REV   THOMAS  ALLEN. 

1799. 


Entered,  accoiding  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

THE  TOWN  OF  PITTSFIELD, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON  : 
Stereotyped  and  Printed  by  Geo.  C.  Rand  &  Avery. 


PBEFACE. 


AT  a  town  meeting  held  in  the  Town  Hall,  in  Pittsfield, 
Aug.  25,  1866,  Mr.  Thomas  Allen  rose,  and  stated,  that  on 
the  Centennial  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  and  Parish, 
viz.,  April  18,  1864,  he  had  been  requested  by  a  vote  of  the 
parish  to  prepare  an  historical  memoir  of  that  parish  and 
church,  embodying  substantially,  but  extending,  the  remarks  he 
made  at  that  meeting.  He  stated,  that,  in  looking  over  the 
records  of  the  town  and  parish,  he  found  them  intimately  con- 
nected, so  that  a  'history  of  the  one  would  be  also  a  history  of 
the  other ;  and  he  had  found  the  history  of  the  town  highly 
interesting,  and  honorable  to  its  inhabitants.  True,  there  were 
no  classic  fields  in  Pittsfield,  consecrated  by  patriotic  blood 
spilled  in  battle  in  defence  of  the  country,  as  in  Lexington  and 
Concord,  simply  because  no  foreign  foe  in  arms  had  ever  invaded 
its  soil :  but  it  was  not  the  less  true  that  Pittsfield  had  always 
promptly  performed  her  part,  and  furnished  her  quota  of  men 
and  means,  in  every  war  waged  in  defence  of  the  country  and 
the  Union  ;  and  that  in  the  intellectual  contests  through  which  the 
just  principles  of  republican  government,  and  civil  and  religious 
freedom,  have  been  established  in  this  country,  the  men  of  Pitts- 
field,  on  their  own  ground  and  elsewhere,  have  ever  borne  a 
part  creditable  alike  to  their  wisdom,  their  sagacity,  and  their 
patriotism.  Pittsfield,  therefore,  had  a  history  which  deserved  to 
be  written.  The  first  settlers  had  all  passed  away ;  and  their 
immediate  descendants,  witnesses  of  the  earlier  struggles,  were 

m 


iv  PREFACE. 

whitening  with  the  frosts  of  age,  and  were  also  rapidly  disap- 
pearing. If  the  records  of  their  history  were  to  be  gathered 
together,  and  preserved  in  a  durable  form,  it  was  time  that  the 
duty  be  undertaken.  He  was  satisfied  that  an  honorable  record 
would  appear,  and  worthy  of  the  place  to  which  God  had  given 
so  much  that  is  beautiful  in  nature. 

He  therefore  asked  leave  to  introduce  a  resolution,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  principal  part,  which  was  warmly  advocated, 
and,  with  great  unanimity,  at  once  adopted :  — 

"Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  for  the  purpose 
of  compiling,  writing,  and  supervising  the  publication  of,  a  history  of 
the  town,  and  that  said  Committee  be  authorized  to  select  and  employ 
a  suitable  person  to  aid  them  in  the  work." 

The  Committee,  then  immediately  appointed,  consisted  of 
Thomas  Allen,  Stephen  Reed,  Phinehas  Allen,  James  Francis, 
and  James  D.  Colt.  Dr.  H.  H.  Childs  was  subsequently  added, 
and  an  appropriation  made  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  work. 
The  Committee  selected  and  employed  Mr.  J.  E.  A.  Smith  as  a 
suitable  person,  qualified  by  experience  as  a  writer j  to  aid  them  ; 
and  by  him,  the  work,  under  their  general  direction  and  superin- 
tendence, and  subject  to  their  scrutiny,  has  been  compiled  and 
written.  The  work  was  commenced  in  September ;  documents 
and  books  in  manuscript  and  print,  and  records  from  private  and 
public  sources,  were  gathered  together ;  and  Boston,  Springfield, 
Hartford,  Albany,  and  Lenox  were  visited  to  consult  libraries, 
authorities,  and  public  archives.  Gathering  information  from  so 
many  and  scattered  sources,  and  reducing  it  to  writing  in  chrono- 
logical order,  has  been,  of  necessity,  a  work  of  time ;  but  the 
result  is  that  more  of  it  has  been  obtained  than  was  at  first 
anticipated.  On  this  account,  the  Committee  have  deemed  it 
best  to  issue  a  first  volume,  bringing  the  history  down  only  to 
the  year  1800. 

Dr.  Childs  having  departed  this  life  in  March,  1868,  and  Dr. 
Reed  not  acting,  John  C.  West  and  Thaddeus  Clapp  were  at 
the  April  meeting,  1868,  added  to  the  Committee. 

The  Committee  and  Mr.  Smith  desire  to  put  on  record  here 
an  acknowledgment  of  their  indebtedness  to  various  persons  for 


PREFACE.  V 

facts,  and  especially  to  mention  the  following  as  some  of  the 
chief  sources  from  whence  material  for  this  History  has  been 
derived. 

Rev.  Mr.  Allen  left  many  papers  of  much  historic  interest,  of 
which  a  considerable  number  have  been  preserved,  and  have 
been  of  the  utmost  service.  Several  of  them  we  print  in  full. 

Col.  William  Williams  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens 
of  the  town  from  its  settlement  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
and  held  offices  which  led  him  into  voluminous  correspondence  re- 
garding its  affairs,  and  made  him  the  custodian  of  valuable  papers. 
A  great  mass  of  these  was  in  existence  within  the  last  twenty 
years ;  but  the  larger  portion  have  since  been  destroyed.  For- 
tunately, however,  while  the  work  of  destruction  was  going  on,  it 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  Hon.  Thomas  Colt,  who  saved  a  con- 
siderable part,  which  forms  the  nucleus  of  his  valuable  historical 
collection,  and  has  afforded  us  the  greatest  aid  in  our  labors. 
Many  other  exceedingly  valuable  and  serviceable  documents, 
saved  from  the  Williams  papers,  have  been  contributed  by  M.  R. 
Lanckton  and  Henry  Colt,  Esqs. 

The  papers  left  by  Col.  John  Brown  to  his  family  were  inad- 
vertently destroyed  many  years  ago ;  but  Henry  C.  Van  Schaack, 
Esq.,  of  Manlius,  N.  Y.,  a  zealous  and  successful  student  of 
Revolutionary  history,  obtained  a  just  conception  of  the  charac- 
ter and  services  of  that  officer  at  a  time  when  they  were  more, 
obscure  than  they  have  since  become,  and  has  been  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  earnestly  engaged  in  collecting  documents 
regarding  them.  His  labors  have  been  richly  rewarded ;  and  he 
has  generously  placed  the  results  in  our  hands,  together  with  his 
own  interesting  observations  upon  them.  To  Mr.  Van  Schaack 
we  are  also  indebted  for  a  large  collection  of  interesting  papers 
regarding  his  uncle,  Major  Henry  Van  Schaack,  concerning  the 
Shays  Rebellion,  the  contest  for  religious  equality,  and  other 
matters ;  many  of  them  pertaining  to  the  period  the  story  of 
which  is  to  be  given  in  the  second  volume  of  this  work. 

We  are  also  indebted,  for  valuable  papers,  to  Messrs.  John  P. 
Brown,  J.  A.  Foote,  and  Ambrose  Cadwell,  of  Pittsfield  ;  Mrs. 
J.  V.  C.  Smith  of  New  York ;  Mrs.  Butler  of  Northampton ; 


vi  PREFACE. 

H.  W.  Taft,  Esq.,  of  Lenox ;  and  Charles  J.  Taylor,  Esq.,  of 
Great  Barrington. 

We  ought  also  to  express  our  obligations  to  Mrs.  Otis  Peck 
for  the  loan  of  a  file  of  "  The  Pittsfield  Sun  ;  "  and  to  Mr.  G.  A. 
Murdock,  civil  engineer,  who  superintended  the  enlargement  of 
the  Pittsfield  lakes  as  reservoirs,  for  aid  in  matters  pertaining  to 
his  profession. 

The  records  of  Pittsfield  are  perfect  from  the  incorporation  of 
the  plantation  of  Poontoosuck  in  1753,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  years  during  the  last  French  and  Indian  War ;  and  many 
papers  of  importance  are  preserved  in  the  town  archives.  And 
these,  of  course,  have  furnished  a  general  outline  of  its  story. 
But  perhaps  the  richest  source  of  information  has  been  found  in 
the  archives  of  the  State  at  Boston,  among  which-  are  preserved 
a  large  number  of  petitions,  memorials,  reports,  and  military 
rolls,  pertaining  to  Pittsfield. 

In  addition  to  these,  we  have  made  use  of  the  files  of  the  Bos- 
ton newspapers  published  during  the  Revolution,  and  preserved 
in  the  collection  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society ;  the  files 
of"  The  Hartford  Courant,"in  the  collection  of  the  Connecticut 
Historical  Society ;  the  files  of  "  The  Pittsfield  Sun  ;  "  the  county 
records  at  Springfield  and  Lenox ;  and  the  archives  of  the  State 
of  New  York  at  Albany.  A  large  number  of  printed  volumes 
have  also  been  consulted  ;  most  of  which  have  been  found  to 
contain  information  valuable  for  our  purposes. 

In  the  course  of  these  researches,  we  have  received  aid  and 
courtesies  from  many  persons,  and  cannot  refrain  from  express- 
ing our  obligations  especially  to  the  gentlemen  connected  with 
the  Massachusetts  State  Department,  to  Hon.  Nathaniel  B. 
Shurtleff  and  Wendell  Phillips,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  Hon.  Richard 
Frothingham  of  Charlestown,  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  Esq.,  of 
Hartford,  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  and  Joel  Munsel,  Esq.,  of 
Albany,  and  to  Mrs.  Thomas  F.  Plunkett  of  Pittsfield. 


CONTENTS. 


«  TOPOGRAPHY. 

PART  I.  —  BERKSHIRE. 

Geography.  — Physical  Structure  and  Scenography.  —  Central  Position  of  Pittsfield.— 
Manufactures.  —  Mineral  Productions. — Aspect  when  first  visited.  —  Geographical 
Nomenclature. — Derivation  of  the  Name  "  Housatonic  "  ......  3 

PART  H.  —  PITTSFIELD. 

General  Description. — Adjoining  Towns. — Lakes,  Streams,  Mountains. — Fish. — Manu- 
factories.—  Outlying  Villages.  —  Central  Village.  —  The  Old  Elm. — Maplewood. — 
Springside. — Churches.  —  Banks  and  Insurance  Offices. — Railroads. — County  Build- 
ings.—  Population  and  Valuation 22 


HISTORY. 

CHAPTER    I. 

ABORIGINAL   OCCUPATION. 

The  Natives  as  found  by  the  Pioneers. — Relics. — Villages  and  Burial-Grounds  in  Pitts- 
field. —  Scantiness  of  Native  Population  to  be  accounted  for. — Mohegan  Traditional 
History.  —  Wars  of  the  Mohegans  and  Iroquois.  —  Changes  in  the  Condition  of  the 
Mohegans  of  Berkshire. — Hunting-System  of  the  Mohegans.  —  Berkshire  a  Hunting- 
Ground.  —  The  Part  of  the  Settlers  of  Pittsfield  in  various  Indian  Wars. — Remarka- 
ble Incidents 43 

CHAPTER    n. 

GRANTS.—  SURVEYS.  — SALES.—  [1620-1741.] 

Advance  of  Population  Westward  in  Massachusetts. — History  of  the  Western  Boundary 
of  Massachusetts. — First  Settlement  on  the  Housatonic.  —  Disposition  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Wild  Lands  in  Hampshire  County.— Jacob  Wendell.— John  Btod- 
dard.  —  Grant  to  Stoddard.  —  Grant  to  Boston. — Boston  sells  to  Wendell. — Adjust- 
ment of  the  Rights  of  Wendell,  Stoddard,  and  Philip  Livingston.  —  Cost,  Form,  and 
Dimensions  of  the  Township ...  55 

CHAPTER    HI. 

FIRST   ATTEMPT   TO    SETTLE    THE    TOWNSHIP.  — [1741-1749.] 

Settling-lots  laid  out. — Description  of  Lots  and  Roads.  —  Philip  Livingston  to  procure 
Settlers. — Efforts  to  introduce  Dutchmen  fail.  —  Huston  induces  a  Company  from 
Westfield  to  purchase  Forty  Lots. — Pioneers  commence  a  Clearing. — Poontoosuck  as 
it  appeared  in  1743.  —  Work  suspended  by  News  of  War.  —  Col.  William  Williams. 
—  The  War  of  1744-8.— Building  of  Fort  Massachusetts.— Hardships  of  Settlers  in 

the  War 69 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

PERMANENT    SETTLEMENT.  —  [1749-1754.] 

Return  of  the  Pioneers.  —  The  First  White  Woman  in  Poontoosuck,  and  her  Trials. — 
David  Bush. — Nathaniel  Fairfield. — Alone  in  the  Woods. — A  Bridal  Tour  in  1752. 
— Zebediah  Stiles. — Charles  Goodrich. — Partition  of  the  Commons  made  and  an- 
nulled. —  Col.  Williams  settles  on  Unkamet  Street.  — His  Property  there.  — The 
Plantation  organized.  —  Powers  of  Plantations. — Votes  with  regard  to  Meeting- 
housc,  Preaching,  Bridges,  and  Highways. — The  First  Bridge  built.  —  Propositions 
for  a  Saw  and  Grist  Mill 85 

CHAPTER   V. 

SECOND   FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR.  — [1754-1759.] 

State  of  the  Plantation. — Position  of  Housatonic  Indians. -^Homicide  of  Waumpanm- 
corse. — Indian  Massacre  at  Stockbridge  and  Hoosac.— Flight  from  Poontoosuck. — 
Poontoosuck  Military  Post. — Building  of  Fort  Anson.  —  Garrison-Life  at  the  Fort.— 
The  Settlers  during  the  War.— Fort  Goodrich.— Fort  Fairfleld.— Fort  at  Onota. 
—Oliver  Root.—  William  Williams 97 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   PLANTATION   ORGANIZATION   RESUMED. —  [1759-1761.] 

Proprietors'-Meettngs,  1759-60. — Vote  to  sell  the  Lands  of  Delinquent  Tax-payers. — 
Committees  to  hire  a  Minister. — Coi.  Williams's  First  Election  as  Clerk. — High- 
ways and  Bridges. — Highway-Surveyors' Districts  formed.  —  Condition  of  the  Set- 
tlers at  the  Close  of  the  War. —  Partition  of  the  Commons 119 

CHAPTER   VH. 

PITTSTTELD   INCORPORATED. —  [1761-1774.] 

Towns  receive  Names  from  the  Governor. — Berkshire  County  erected. — First  Pittsfleld 
Town-Meeting.  —  Town-Officers.  —  Highways  and  Schools. — Pauperism.  —  Slavery. 
—  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors. —  Cattle  restrained.  —  Wolves.  —  Anecdote  of  Mrs. 
Janes.  —  Grist-Mills.  —  Saw-Mills.— Fulling-Mills,  and  Malt-House.  — Growth  of  the 
Settlement. — Col.  Williams's  House  and  Garden.  —  Other  Dwellings. — Early  Set- 
tlers'Names. — Condition  and  Prospects  of  the  Town.  —  Taxation  of  Non-resident 
Proprietors 130 

CHAPTER   Vm. 

FIRST   MEETTNG-HODSE   AND    MINISTER. —  [1760-1768.] 

Massachusetts  Laws  for  the  Support  of  Public  Worship.  —  Their  inharmonious  Opera- 
tion in  Pittsfleld.  —  Differences  between  Resident  and  Non-resident  Proprietors. — 
The  Meeting-house  raised.  —  Difficulties  in  finishing  it. — First  Sale  of  Pews.  —  Dig- 
nifying the  Seats.  —  Description  of  the  Meeting-house.  —  Burial-Ground.  —  First 
Attempts  to  settle  a  Minister. — Ebenezer  Garnsey.  —  Enoch  Huntington.  —  Amos 
Tomson,  Daniel  Collins.  —  Thomas  Allen,  called  and  settled.  —  Church  formed. — 
Sketch  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen 150 

CHAPTER    IX. 

ANTE-REVOLCTIONAHY   POLITICS.— [1761-JCNE,  1774.] 

Public  Sentiment.— Its  Leaders  in  Pittsfield.— Israel  Stoddard.  — Woodbridge  Little.— 
William  Williams.— Rev.  Thomas  Allen.— Elder  Valentine  Rathbun.— James  Eas- 
ton.— William  Francis.— Josiah  Wright.  —  Oliver  Root.  —  David  Noble.  — John 
Strong.  —  Charles  Goodrich.  —  Israel  Dickinson.  —  Dr.  Timothy  Childs.  — John 
Brown.— Eli  Root. —Daniel  Hubbard.— Census  of  1772.— Censorship  of  the  Town 
Records.— Revolutionary  Measures.— Instructions  to  Representatives.— Action  re- 
garding the  Boston  Tea-party 169 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER    X. 

RESISTANCE   TO   PARLIAMENTARY   AGGRESSION.  —  [MARCH-OCTOBER,  1774.] 

Boston  Port-Bill  and  Regulating  Acts. — First  Revolutionary  Town  Action  of  Pittsfield. 
—  Committee  of  Correspondence  appointed.  —  The  League  and  Covenant  adopted. — 
Pittsfield  contributes  in  Aid  of  the  Sufferers  by  the  Port-Bill.  —  Obstruction  of  the 
King's  Court.— SethPomeroy.— Oliver  Wendell 187 

CHAPTER    XI. 

A   SEASON    OF   PREPARATION.  —  [SEPTEMBER,  1774-MAT,  1775.] 

John  Brown  elected  to  the  Provincial  Congress. — Pittsfield  adopts  Congressional  Advice. 
— Adopts  the  Articles  of  Association.  —  Revolutionary  Committees. — Pittsfield  Mili- 
tia.—  Generous  Patriotism  of  Capt.  Noble.  —  The  Minute-Men.  —  Spinning-Matches 
and  Clothing-Bees. — News  of  Lexington  Fight.  —  March  of  the  Minute-Men. — 
Changes  in  Capt.  Noble's  Company. — Proceedings  against  the  Tories.  —  Patriotic 
Labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen 200 

CHAPTER    Xn. 

PITTSFIELD  IN  ETHAN  ALLEN'S  TICONDEROGA  CAPTURE.  —  [DECEMBER-JUNE,  1775.] 

John  Brown  in  the  Provincial  Congress .  —  On  the  Canada  Committee.  —  Selected  to  go  to 
Canada.  —  Perilous  Journey.  —  Report  of  his  Mission.  —  Recommends  the  early 
Capture  of  Ticonderoga. — Arranges  it  with  Ethan  Allen. — Connecticut  plans  the 
capture.  —  Connection  of  the  two  Schemes.  —  The  Commissioners  visit  Pittsfield. — 
John  Brown  and  Col.  Easton  join  the  Party.  —  Its  Plans  modified  on  their  Sugges- 
tion.— Col.  Easton  raises  Men  for  the  Expedition.  —  Councils  of  War*ln  Vermont. — 
Rank  of  the  Officers  fixed. — Ethan  Allen.  —  Benedict  Arnold  claims  the  Command, 
and  is  resisted. — Important  Letter  from  Arnold. — Allen  captures  the  Fort. — Easton 
and  Brown  announce  the  Victory  to  the  Continental  and  Provincial  Congresses.  — 
Reports  of  Col.  Allen  and  Capt.  Mott.  —  The  great  Services  of  the  Pittsfield  Officers 
officially  acknowledged.  —  Malignant  Course  of  Arnold. — He  receives  Troops,  cap- 
tures a  King's  Sloop,  and  sets  up  a  rival  Command. — Is  placed  under  Col.  Hinman 
of  Connecticut  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  resigns.  —  Col.  Easton  appointed  to 
fill  the  Vacancy.  —  John  Brown  commissioned  Major. — Arnold  embezzles  the  Pay 
of  Capt.  James  Noble's  Pittsfield  Company 211 

CHAPTER    Xm. 

PITTSFTELD  IN  THE  FIRST  NORTHERN  CAMPAIGN,  AND  AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  BOSTON. 
[MAT-NOVEMBER,  1775.] 

Rivalries  at  Ticonderoga.  —  Col.  Easton  proposes  an  Invasion  of  Canada. — He  raises  a 
Regiment.  —  Pittsfield  Companies  in  it.  —  Gen .  Schuyler  appointed  Department  Com- 
mander. — First  Visit  to  Ticonderoga.  —  Opinion  of  the  Troops  there.  —  Major  John 
Brown's  Second  Scout  in  Canada.  —  Returning,  he  urges  an  immediate  Advance.  — 
Appointed  to  command  the  Lake  Fleet.  —  Hastens  the  March  of  the  Army.  —  Siege 
of  St.  John's  commences. — Major  Brown  again  sent  to  Canada.. —  Reports  to  Schuy- 
ler.— Major  Brown  the  first  to  lead  a  Detachment  into  Canada.  —  Captures  Stores 
near  Chamblee.  —  Unsuccessful  Plan  to  capture  Montreal.  —  Takes  Fort  Chamblee. — 
St.  John's  surrenders.  —  Col.Easton's  Regiment  advances  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  —  En- 
trenches at  Sorel. — Its  Sufferings.  —  Blockades  the  British  Fleet.  —  Brilliant  Services 
of  the  Pittsfield  Officers  acknowledged.  —  Close  of  the  Campaign.  —  Col.  Patterson's 
Regiment  at  Cambridge. — Extraordinary  Transmission  of  Sounds  .  .  .  .226 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  —  THE  TORIES.  —  BATTLES  OF  'WHITE  PLAINS 
AND  THE  DELAWARE.—  [1776-1777.] 

King  George's  Name  expunged  from  Military  Commissions.  —  The  Town  instructs  its 
Representative  in  Favor  of  Independence  and  a  Free  Republic.  —  Committees  of  Cor- 
respondence, &c. — Their  Rules  of  Practice.  —  The  Tories.  —  The  Hue  and  Cry. — 
Hiding-place  of  the  Tories.  —  The  Ban  of  Community. — Its  Effect  illustrated  by  an 
Incident. — John  Graves  aids  the  Escape  of  a  Royal  Officer,  and  is  punished  therefor. 
— An  ex-post  facto  Fright.  —  Infliction  of  Confiscation  and  Banishment.  —  Case  of 
Elisha  Jones  and  Others. — Enlistment  of  a  Slave.  —  Woodbridge  Little  and  Israel 
Stoddard. — Six  Tories  induced  by  energetic  Measures  to  take  the  Oath  of  Allegiance. 
— Anecdote  of  a  Soldier  returned  from  a  British  Prison. — Mr.  Allen's  Diary  at  White 
Plains.  —  Patterson's  Regiment  rejoins  Washington. — Its  reduced  Condition  .  .  243 

CHAPTER    XV. 

PITTSFIELD  IN  THE  SECOND  CANADA  CAMPAIGN. — ARNOLD'S  PERSECUTION  OF 
BROWN  AND  EASTON.  —  [SEPTEMBER,  1775-1778.] 

Arnold  arrives  at  Quebec.  —  Montgomery  arrives.  —  Projected  Assault  on  the  City. — 
Brown  charged  with  creating  Dissensions.  —  The  Charge  considered.  —  Assault  on 
Quebec.  —  Death  of  Montgomery.  —  Arnold  continues  the  Siege.  —  Brown's  the  most 
advanced  Post.  —  Expects  to  be  a  Uriah  there.  —  Small-Pox  in  the  Army.  —  Attempt 
to  set  up  Inoculation  in  Pittsfield. — Patterson's  Regiment  marches  to  Canada. — In 
the  Affair  of  the  Cedars.  —  Evacuation  of  Canada. — Miserable  Condition  of  the  Army 
at  Crown  Point.  —  Schuyler  and  the  Berkshire  Committees. —  Arnold's  Charges 
against  Brown  and  Easton.  —  They  demand  a  Court  of  Inquiry.  —  Singular  Difficulty 
in  obtaining  it.  —  Brown  impeaches  Arnold  of  Treason  and  other  Crimes.  —  Appeals 
to  the  Public.  —  Publishes  a  Hand-Bill  against  Arnold. — Remarkable  Interview  be- 
tween Brown  Ad  Arnold. — An  ex-parte  Trial.  —  Gross  Injustice  to  Brown. — His 
spirited  Remonstrance  and  Resignation 255 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE  INVASION  OF  BURGOYNE,  AND  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON.  —  [1777.] 

Pittsfleld  Soldiers  for  the  Continental  Army.  —  Apprehensions  of  Invasion  from  Canada. 
— A  Petition  of  1775.  —  Pittsfleld  responds  to  Calls  for  Men.  —  Sends  Companies  to 
Ticonderoga  in  December  and  April.  —  Burgoyne  approaches.  —  Extracts  from  Mr. 
Allen's  Diary  at  Ticonderoga.  —  He  addresses  the  Soldiers  of  the  Garrison. — Evacua- 
tion of  Ticonderoga. — Feeling  at  Pittsfleld  regarding  it.  —  Correspondence  of  Gen. 
Schuyler.  —  Schuyler  and  the  Berkshire  Militia.  —  Baum's  Expedition  marches  on 
Bennington.— Met  by  Stark.  — Rally  of  the  Berkshire  Militia.  — Pittsfield  Volun- 
teers.— Anecdote  of  an  Indian  Scout. — Anecdotes  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen. — He  fires  the 
First  Gun#t  the  Bennington  Fight.— Anecdote  of  Linus  Parker.  — Rout  of  the  Brit- 
ish Forces. — Effect  of  the  Victory  on  the  Country. — Col.  Brown's  Lake  George 
Expedition.— His  Brilliant  Success.  —  Surrender  of  Burgoyne.— His  March  through 
Pittsfield.  — Quaint  Patriotic  Verses 278 

CHAPTER    XVn. 

LAST  TEARS    OF   THE    REVOLUTION.  —  [1777-1783.] 

Battle  of  Stone  Arabia. —Death  of  Col.  Brown.  —Major  Oliver  Root  defends  Fort  Paris. 
—Pittsfield  Militia.— Pittsfield  Soldiers  in  the  Continental  Army.  — Action  of  the 
Town  in  filling  Quotas.  — Hosea  Merrill.—  Interesting  Incidents.— Material  Contri- 
butions of  Pittefield  to  the  War  of  the  Revolution. —Collection  of  Taxes.  —Curious 
Papers  relating  thereto .  309 


CONTEXTS.  xi 

CHAPTER    XVLTI. 

THE    BERKSHIRE    CONSTITUTIONALISTS.—  [1775-1780.] 

Political  Status  of  the  County.  —  Its  Origin  in  the  Organization  of  the  Provisional  Pro- 
vincial Government.  —  The  Provincial  Congress.  —  Plan  devised  by  the  Continental 
Congress  for  the  Government  of  Massachusetts.  —  The  Western  Counties  oppose  it, 
but  yield.  —  Reasons  for  reviving  their  Opposition.  —  Feeling  against  the  Provincial 
Charter  accounted  for.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  Position.  —  The  Judicial  System  of  the 
Province  oppressive.  —  The  Civil  Administration  excluded  from  Berkshire.  —  The 
Memorial  of  Pittsfield.  —  Delay  of  other  Counties  in  re-organizing  their  Courts  .  .  324 

CHAPTER    TCTX. 

THE   BERKSHIRE    CONSTITUTIONALISTS    (CONTINUED).—  [1775-1780.] 

• 

Pittsfield  challenges  legislative  Attention  to  its  Recusance.  —  Second  Memorial.  —  Con- 
gress practically  revokes  its  Advice.  —  Berkshire  demands  a  Constitution,  which  the 
General  Court  neglects  to  provide.  —  Projected  Constitution  of  1777.  —  Pittsfield 
accepts  it  in  Part,  but  the  State  rejects.  —  The  Non-constitutionalists  memorialize.  — 
Their  Statement.  —  The  Legislature  appeals  to  the  People  of  Berkshire.  —  Conse- 
quent Action.  —  Vote  of  the  Towns  still  excluding  the  Courts.  —  The  County  petitions 
for  a  Constitutional  Convention.  —  Strong  Language  of  the  Petition.  —  The  Legisla- 
ture passes  an  act  of  Pardon  and  Oblivion.  —  Pittsfield  denounces  it  as  uncalled  for 
and  libellous.  —  The  Legislature  informs  Berkshire  of  Measures  towards  complying 
with  its  Demands.  —  The  County  nevertheless  excludes  the  Courts  until  the  Constitu- 
tion shall  be  actually  adopted.  —  Final  Memorial  to  the  Legislature.  —  Instructions  of 
Pittsfield  to  its  Delegate  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  —  Newspaper  Libels.  — 
Conclusion  ...............  .  350 

CHAPTER    XX. 

THE   BERKSHIRE    CONSTITUTIONALISTS.  —  COMMITTEE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  INTER- 
REGNUM.— [1774-1780.] 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  Inspection,  and  Safety.  —  Their  Character  and  Origin.  — 
Subordinated  in  1776  to  the  Courts  of  Law.  —  The  Berkshire  Committees  refuse  Sub- 
mission. —  Their  Administration  of  Justice.  —  Curious  Surveillance  of  Morals  and 
Manners.  —  Town  Court  established.  —  Its  Rules  of  Practice  and  Fee-Table.  —  Disci- 
pline of  Capt.  Goodrich  by  the  Committee.  —  He  appeals  to  the  Legislature.  —  De- 
tails of  the  Case  ...............  374 

CHAPTER    :x"KT- 

THE    SHAYS    REBELLION.  —  [1781-1786.] 

Its  Causes.  —  Taxes.  —  Private  Debts.  —  Harsh  Laws  and  Customs.  —  County  Conven- 
tions. —  Popular  Outbreaks.  —  Organized  Rebellion.  —  The  Peculiar  Course  of  Berk- 
shire County.  —  Convention  at  Lenox.  —  Courts  obstructed  at  Great  Barrington.  — 
Gen.  Lincoln  establishes  Headquarters  at  Pittsfield.  —  The  Rebellion  suppressed  .  389 


CHAPTER 

PITTSFIELD  IN  THE  SHAYS  REBELLION.  —  PAROCHIAL  DIFFICULTIES.  —  [1786-1789.] 

Public  Sentiment  of  the  Town.  —  Its  Comparative  Prosperity.  —  Prominent  Citizens 
labor  for  Law  and  Order  —  Henry  Van  Schaack  eulogizes  the  Town.  —  The  Male- 
content  Movement  modified  in  Pittsfield.  —  Instructions  to  Representative  Childs.  — 
A  Stormy  Town  Meeting.  —  A  Conservative  Re-action.  —  Military  Occupation  of  the 
Town.  —  Anecdote.  —  Parochial  Dissensions.  —  Reconciliation  effected.  —  Joshua 
Danforth.  —  Henry  Van  Schaack  ...........  408 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XX1M. 

COUNTY  COURTS  IN  PITTSFIELD.—  [1761-1787.] 

Courts  on  Unkamet  Street.  —  Peculiarities  of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions.— Court- 
house Scenes. — Dissatisfaction  with  the  Place  of  holding  the  Courts. — Contribu- 
tions and  Plans  for  a  New  Court-House. — Various  Sites  advocated.  —  Change  in  the 
Shire-Towns  proposed.  —  Popular  and  Legislative  Action. — A  County  Convention 
decides  for  Lenox.  —  Opposition. — Delays.  —  The  Legislature  insists. — Court-House 
and  Jail  built 423 

CHAPTER    XXiy. 

THE   MEETING-HOUSE    OF  1790.  — [1789-1793.] 

Accommodations  for  Religious  ^Jbrship  in  1790.  —  Plans  for  a  New  Meeting-House.— 
Items  from  the  Assessment  of  1791.  —  Sale  of  Continental  Money.  —  Materials  for  the 
New  Meeting-House.  —  Location  of  the  House.  — Salvation  of  the  Elm,  and  Creation 
of  the  Park.  —  Building  of  the  House.  —  Disputes  about  Pews.  —  The  First  Bell. — 
Destruction  of  the  Old  Meeting-House.  —  Ball-Playing  forbidden  on  the  Common. — 
Town  House  and  Academy  erected. — Protection  for  the  Burial-Ground. — John 
Chandler  Williams.  — Madam  Williams  .  434 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  EQUALITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. —  [1772-1811.] 

State  of  the  Law.  —  Appropriations  for  the  New  Meeting-House  resisted.  —  Baptists, 
Shakers,  Episcopalians,  and  Methodists.  —  Protest  of  the  Dissenters.  —  List  of  Dis- 
senters in  1789.  —  Inquisition  into  Religious  Faith.  —  Henry  Van  Schaack  appeals  to 
the  Courts. — The  Decision.  —  State  Laws  for  the  Support  of  Religious  Worship 
remodelled. — Pittsfield  Parishes 450 

APPENDIX. 

A.  —  Depreciation  of  Massachusetts  Provincial  Currency 467 

B.  —  Rev.  Thomas  Allen's  Revolutionary  Diary 470 

C. — Names  of  Early  Settlers .475 

D.  — Records  of  the  Revolutionary  Service  of  Pittsfleld  in  the  Revolution   .        .       .        .477 

E.  —  Census  of  Pittsfield  in  1772 .497 

F.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  Account  of  the  Battle  of  Bennington 499 

G.  — Plan  of  Pittsfleld  in  1794 .'501 

H. — Additional  Incidents >  503 


EXPLANATION.  — The  initials  T.  C.  C.,  refer  to  the  Thomas  Colt  Historical  Collection; 
H.  C.  C.,  Henry  Colt  Collection;  Lane.  Col.,  Lancton  Collection;  Am.  Ar.,  to  the  American 
Archives  of  Peter  Force;  H.  V.  8.  C.,  to  the  Henry  C.  Van  Sehaack  Collection. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


> 


"  TOPOGRAPHICAL  pursuits,  my  doctor  used  to  say,  tend  to  preserve  and  promote 
the  civilization  of  which  they  are  a  consequence  and  a  proof. 

"  They  have  always  prospered  in  prosperous  countries,  and  flourished  most  in 
flourishing  times,  when  there  have  been  persons  enough  of  opulence  to  encourage 
such  studies,  and  of  leisure  to  engage  in  them.  .  .  .  Whatever  strengthens  our 
local  attachments  is  favorable  both  to  individual  and  national  character.  Our 
home,  our  birthplace,  our  native  land,  —  think  for  a  while  what  the  virtues  are 
which  arise  out  of  the  feelings  connected  with  these  words ;  and,  if  thou  hast  any 
intellectual  eyes,  thou  wilt  then  perceive  the  connection  between  topography  and 
patriotism. 

"  Show  me  a  man  who  cares  no  more  for  one  place  than  another,  and  I  will  show 
you  in  that  same  person  one  who  loves  nothing  but  himself.  Beware  of  those  who 
are  homeless  by  choice :  you  have  no  hold  on  a  human  being  whose  affections  are 
without  a  tap-root."  —  SOUTHEY  :  The  Doctor. 


Must  not  be  Loaned 


T     I. 


BERKSHIRE. 

Geography.  —  Physical  Structure  and  Scenography.  —  Central  Position  of  Pitts- 
field.  —  Manufactures.  —  Mineral  Productions.  —Aspect  when  first  visited.  — 
Geographical  Nomenclature.  —  Derivation  of  the  Name  "  Housatonic." 

THE  fourteen  counties  into  which  Massachusetts  is  divided  are, 
most  of  them,  distinguished  by  physical  peculiarities,  which 
shape  the  occupations  of  their  inhabitants,  and  mould  their  habits 
of  life  and  thought ;  and  among  these  subdivisions  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, in  forming  which  the  statute  has,  often  with  nicety,  fol- 
lowed the  demarcations  of  Nature,  not  even  the  sandy  Cape  or 
metropolitan  Suffolk  —  hardly  even  insular  Nantucket  —  is  marked 
by  features  so  unlike  those  of  its  sister  shires  as  are  those  which 
characterize  the  county  of  Berkshire. 

The  traveller  who  enters  the  mountain-walls  of  its  upland  valley 
soon  recognizes  the  intense  individuality  of  this  region,  and  feels 
that  he  is  among  a  peculiar  people  as  well  as  amid  novel  scenes ; 
and  this  notwithstanding  the  large  infusion  of  foreign  population 
into  the  manufacturing  districts,  and  the  constant  tidal  currents 
between  city  and  country  life,  which  have  gone  far  to  smooth  away 
the  strong  although  never  very  rugged  lines  that  used  to  make 
the  aspect  of  society  no  less  picturesque  than  that  of  Nature.  The 
stranger  with  a  moderately  observant  eye  will  soon  perceive 
that  the  old  lineaments,  however  softened,  are  still  there;  and  he 
may  often  find  them  starting  into  prominence,  which  leaves  the 
lineal  likeness  unmistakable. 

The  people  of  Berkshire  are  the  true  children  of  their  home 
among  the  hills.  They  are  very  much  what  its  geographical  and 

3 


4  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

physical  characteristics  would  naturally  make  the  descendants  of 
Massachusetts  Puritans.  Our  first  consideration,  then,  is  of  the 
influences  of  this  kind  which  have  tended  to  modify  in  them  the 
common  type  of  Massachusetts  man. 

Berkshire,  the  extreme  western  portion  of  the  Pilgrim  Common- 
wealth, is  divided  from  the  counties  of  Columbia  and  Rensselaer, 
in  New  York,  by  a  right  line1  which  runs  for  fifty-one  miles  along 
the  summits  of  the  Taconic  Mountains. 

On  the  north,  a  straight  boundary  of  fourteen  miles  separates  it 
from  Vermont ;  but  the  town  of  Munroe,  belonging  to  Franklin 
County,  juts  into  its  north-eastern  corner.  Immediately  south  of 
that  point,  the  width  of  Berkshire  is  about  eighteen  miles.  Thence 
a  line,  rendered  very  irregular  by  numerous  attempts  to  rectify  the 
boundaries  of  towns  and  counties,  divides  the  Hoosac  Mountains, 
between  Berkshire  on  the  west,  and  Franklin,  Hampden,  and 
Hampshire  on  the  east.  Upon  the  south,  the  line  again  becomes 
straight,  and  runs  for  twenty-four  miles  along  the  borders  of  Con- 
necticut. Thus  the  four  cardinal  boundaries  of  Berkshire  lie 
along  four  different  States,  including  that  of  which  it  forms  a  part. 
The  region  thus  defined,  containing  an  area  of  a  little  over  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  square  miles,  forms  a  conspicuous  feature  in  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  phases  of  New-England  geography,  as 
described,  upon  the  authority  of  Prof.  Guyot's  observations,  in 
Palfrey's  history  of  that  section :  and  no  better  basis  for  a  clear 
comprehension  of  the  physical  conformation  of  Berkshire  could  be 
desired  than  a  slightly  condensed  extract  from  that  work :  — 

"  Only  moderate  elevations,"  says  Dr.  Palfrey,  "  present  them- 
selves along  the  greater  part  of  the  New-England  coast.  Inland, 
the  great  topographical  feature  is  a  double  belt  of  highlands,  sepa- 
rated almost  to  their  bases  by  the  deep  and  broad  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  and  running  parallel  to  each  other  from  the 
south-south-west  to  the  north-north-east,  till  around  the  sources 
of  that  river  they  unite  in  a  wide  space  of  table-land,  from  which 
streams  descend  in  different  directions."  .  .  . 

"  To  regard  these  highlands,  which  form  so  important  a  feature 
in  New-England  geography,  as  simply  two  ranges  of  hills,  would 
not  be  to  conceive  of  them  aright.  They  are  vast  swells  of  land, 
of  an  average  elevation  of  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 

1  With  the  exception  of  a  slight  deviation  at  the  south,  caused  by  the  cession 
of  Boston  Comer. 


TOPOGEAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  5 

sea,  each  with  a  width  of  forty  or  fifty  miles,  from  which,  as  from 
a  base,  mountains  rise  in  chains  or  in  isolated  groups  to  an  altitude 
of  several  thousand  feet  more. 

"  In  structure,  the  two  belts  are  unlike.  The  western  system, 
which  bears  the  general  name  of  the  Green  Mountains,  is  com- 
posed of  two  principal  chains,1  more  or  less  continuous,  covered, 
like  several  shorter  ones  which  run  along  them,  with  the  forests 
and  herbage  to  which  they  owe  their  name.  Between  these,  a 
longitudinal  valley  can  be  traced,  though  with  some  interruptions, 
from  Connecticut  to  Northern  Vermont.  In  Massachusetts,  it  is 
marked  by  the  Housatonic ;  in  Vermont,  by  the  rich  basins  which 
hold  the  villages  of  Bennington,  Manchester,  and  Rutland;  and, 
farther  on,  by  valleys  of  less  note.  .  .  . 

"  The  mountains  have  a  regular  increase  from  south  to  north. 
From  a  height  of  less  than  a  thousand  feet  in  Connecticut,  they 
rise  to  an  average  of  twenty-five  hundred  feet  in  Massachusetts, 
where  the  majestic  Greylock,  isolated  between  the  two  chains, 
lifts  its  head  to  the  stature  of  thirty-five  hundred  feet.  In  Ver- 
mont, Equinox  and  Stratton  Mountains,  near  Manchester,  are 
thirty-seven  hundred  feet  high ;  Killington  Peak,  near  Rutland, 
rises  forty-two  hundred  feet ;  Mansfield  Mountain,  at  the  northern 
extremity,  overtops  the  rest  of  the  Green-mountain  range  with 
an  altitude  of  forty-four  hundred  feet. 

"  The  rise  of  the  valley  is  less  regular.  In  Connecticut,  its 
bottom  is  from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  In  Southern  Berkshire,  it  is  eight  hundred  feet: 
it  rises  thence  two  hundred  feet  to  Pittsfield,  and  one  hundred 
more  to  the  foot  of  Greylock;  whence  it  declines  to  the  bed  of  the 
Housatonic  in  one  direction,  and  to  an  average  height  of  little 
more  than  five  hundred  feet  in  Vermont  in  the  other.*  Thus  it  is 
in  Berkshire  County  that  the  western  swell  presents,  if  not  the 
most  elevated  peaks,  yet  the  most  compact  and  consolidated 
structure."  2 

A  region  thus  constituted  could  not  fail  to  be  filled  with  lovely 
vales;  but  unrivalled  here,  and  with  few  rivals  elsewhere,  stands 
the  fame  of  that  occupied  by  the  county  of  Berkshire.  And 
nowhere  else  is  the  combination  of  its  grand  but  uufrowuing 
circumvallation  of  hills,  with  the  varied  beauty  which  it  encircles, 

1  The  Taconics  on  the  west,  and  the  Hoosacs  on  the  east. 

2  Palf.  Hist.  N.  E.,  i.  pp.  3-5. 


6  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

to  be  observed  with  such  completeness  of  effect  as  from  points 
near  the  centre  of  Pittsfield,  where  the  perspective  softens  and 
shapes  the  outlines  of  the  view  into  unity  and  proportion,  and 
where  you  are  free  from  that  feeling  of  oppression  which  is  apt  to 
result  from  the  too  close  proximity  of  mountains.  The  spectator 
standing  on  the  observatory  at  Maplewood,  on  the  commanding 

hill  above  Springside,  or  upon 
some  similar  elevation,  finds  no 
words  in  which  to  express  his 
admiration  of  the  scenes  which 
surround  him.  On  the  west 
sweep  the  Taconies,  in  that 
majestic  curve  whose  grace  trav- 
ellers familiar  with  the  mountain 
scenery  of  both  hemispheres 
pronounce  unequalled.  On  the 
east,  the  Hoosacs  stretch  their 
unbroken  battlements  with 
white  villages  at  their  feet,  and,  if  the  sunlight  favor,  paths  of 
mingled  lawn  and  wood  enticing  to  their  summits;  while  from 

the  north, 

"  Greylock,  cloud-girdled  on  his  purple  throne," 

looks  grandly  across  the  valley  to  the  giant  heights  keeping  watch 
and  ward  over  the  pass  where  the  mountains  throw  wide  their 
everlasting  gates  to  let  the  winding  Housatonic  flow  peacefully 
towards  the  sea. 

On  every  side,  the  exquisite  curves  of  this  graceful  stream,  and 
the  slender  threads  of  its  innumerable  tributaries,  embroider  the 
rich  green  of  the  meadows  and  the  more  sombre  verdure  of 
the  uplands ;  while  not  far  away,  although  not  all  visible,  sparkle 
the  bright  waters  of  six  beautiful  lakelets,  companions  to 

"  The  stream  whose  silver-braided  rills 
Fling  their  unclasping  bracelets  from  the  hills, 
Till,  in  one  gleam,  beneath  the  forest's  wings 
Melts  the  white  glitter  of  a  hundred  springs." 

HOLMES. 

Below,  the  not  unfitting  centre  of  this  amphitheatre  of  beauty, 
lies  the  village  of  Pittsfield,  with  its  mansions  and  humbler  homes, 
its  marts,  schools,  and  churches,  half  hidden  by  noble  trees; 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  7 

among  which,  alas !  no  longer  rises  the  gray  old  elm  which  used 
first  to  greet  the  traveller's  eye. 

A  lovelier  landscape  one  might  not  desire  to  see;  and  when, 
satiated  with  long,  luxurious  gazing,  the  spectator  seeks  to  analyze 
the  sources  of  his  delight,  all  the  elements  of  beauty  justify  his 
praise.  To  the  eye,  the  valley  here  presents  the  proportions  which 
architects  love  to  give  their  favorite  structures.  The  symmetry, 
too,  with  which  point  answers  to  opposing  point,  exceeds  the  power 
of  art.  Variety  the  most  marvellous,  but  without  confusion, 
forbids  the  sense  to  tire.  Colors  the  richest,  softest,  and  most 
delicate,  charm  the  eye,  and  vary  with  the  ever-changing  conditions 
of  the  atmosphere.  Fertile  farms  and  frequent  villages  imbue 
the  scene  with  the  warmth  of  generous  life ;  while  over  all  hangs 
a  subdued  grandeur  whicl*  may  well  have  pervaded  the.  souls  of 
the  great  and  good  men  who  have  made  Berkshire  their  home 
since  the  days  of  Jonathan  Edwards. 

The  emotion  of  sublimity  is  not  often  excited  by  Berkshire 
scenery,  unless  the  feeling  inspired  by  the  excess  and  over- 
whelming profusion  of  beauty  with  which,  under  certain  favoring 
circumstances,  it  overflows,  may  be  properly  so  classed.  Boldness, 
freshness,  and  variety  are  the  traits  by  which  it  charms ;  and  they 
are  those  which  one  would  most  desire  to  characterize  his  home, 
and  under  whose  healthful  influences  he  would  wish  his  children 
to  be  educated.  On  the  heights  where  Greylock  lifts  the  topmost 
summit  of  the  State,  along  the  valleys  of  the  Hoosac  and  the 
Housatonic,  up  the  rude  but  flower-fringed  wood-roads  which 
penetrate  the  narrowing  opes  *  of  the  Green  Mountains,  beauty 
is  everywhere  the  prevailing  element.  The  rapidly-shifting  scenes 
—  never  tame,  but  rarely  rugged;  never  altogether  repulsive,  but 

1  The  reader  will  pardon  to  necessity  the  employment  of  a  word  of  merely 
local  authority  and  very  infrequent  use.  A  hope  —  or  more  descriptively,  with- 
out the  aspirate,  an  ope  —  is  a  valley,  which,  open  at  one  end  only,  loses  itself 
at  the  other,  sloping  upward  to  a  point  in  the  mass  of  the  mountains.  The  word 
is  quite  indispensable  in  the  description  of  scenery  like  that  of  Berkshire ;  and 
its  disuse  has  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  such  vile  substitutes  as  "  hole,"  "  hol- 
low," or  even  worse.  Thus  we  have  Biggs's  Hole  and  Bigsby's  Hollow,  or  more 
probably  "  Holler."  Surely  neatly  descriptive  ope  should  not  be  displaced  by 
such  abominable  interlopers  as  these. 

\Vi-:ijsr tu  has  "  HOPE,  n.  —  A  sloping  plain  between  ridges  of  mountains. 
[Xot  in  vse..}  Ainsworth." — But  English  local  topographical  writers  sometimes 
use  the  word  in  the  sense  given  it  in  the  text. 


8  TOPOGRAPHY    OF  PITTSFIELD. 

often  filled  with  all  that  can  please  the  eye  —  follow  each  other  in 
infinitely  multiplied  combinations  of  mountain  and  valley,  lake 
and  stream,  rock,  tree,  and  shrub,  mossy  hillock  and  crystal 
spring. 

"  The  delicious  surprises  of  Berkshire  "  was  one  of  the  happiest 
phrases  in  the  poetic  rhetoric  of  Gov.  Andrew,  who  knew  well  the 
scenes  he  praised  ;  and  the  traveller  along  its  winding  roads 
recognizes  at  every  turn  how  truthful  and  appropriate  was  the 
expression. 

But  we  must  not  linger,  where  all  love  to  linger,  amid  the 
exceeding  loveliness  of  Berkshire  scenery  ;  but  turn  to  those  facts 
regarding  the  geographical  structure  of  the  county,  which,  although 
not  devoid  of  scenographic  interest,  affect  also  its  internal  econo- 
my, and  its  relations  to  its  county-seat  anfl  central  market-town. 

Pittsfield  Park,  which  lies  very  near  the  centre  of  the  town,  and 
of  the  county  as  well,  has  an  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea 
of  one  thousand  and  forty-one  feet ;  and,  omitting  the  small  unin- 
habited mountain-districts,  that  is  not  far  from  the  average  altitude 
of  the  township. 

Of  the  neighboring  mountains,  isolated  Greylock,  the  highest 
point  of  Massachusetts  (3,505  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea), 
rises  2,464  above  Pittsfield,  from  which  it  is  about  fourteen  miles 
distant  as  the  crow  flies.  Of  the  Hoosacs,  some  of  the  peaks  near 
Vermont  attain  an  altitude  of  two  thousand  feet  above  the  val- 
ley at  their  bases ;  or  perhaps  fourteen  hundred  above  Pittsfield. 
Among  the  Taconics,  Berlin  Mountain  in  Williamstown  exceeds 
the  latter  level  by  1,773  feet ;  Perry's  Peak  in  Richmond,  —  famed 
for  its  superb  over-view,  —  by  1,576;  and,  near  the  extreme  south- 
west, Mount  Everett,  the  dome  of  the  Taconics,  by  1,583. 

Excluding  from  the  computation  these  heights,  which  dispropor- 
tionately excel  their  neighbors,  the  average  elevation  of  the  moun- 
tain-summits of  Berkshire  above  Pittsfield  Park  may  be  about  eight 
hundred  feet;  which  is  considerably  less  than  their  altitude  above 
the  level  of  the  Berkshire  Valley.1  How  slight  is  the  depression 
of  the  transverse  valleys  between  the  several  peaks,  massive  knobs, 
and  table-lands  of  the  Hoosacs,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that, 
upon  the  eastern  declivity  of  the  range,  the  Western  Railroad  is 

1  Prof.  Chester  Dewey  estimated  the  general  average  of  the  Hoosac  Range  above 
the  bottom  of  the  valley  at  sixteen  hundred  feet ;  that  of  the  Taconics,  at  twelve  or 
fourteen  hundred. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  9 

compelled  to  almost  double  upon  its  track  in  order  to  find  a  gap 
through  which  it  may  enter  the  county  by  a  valley-summit  whose 
original  elevation  was  1,478  feet  above  tide-water  at  Albany,  or 
452  above  Unkamet's  Crossing.1  The  domelike  summits  of  the 
Taconics  are  more  sharply  divided ;  but  even  between  these  the 
depressions  are  so  slight,  that,  although  the  locomotive  finds  a 
passage  at  an  elevation  of  only  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above 
the  road-bed  at  Pittsfield,  it  is  the  only  one  that  is  practicable 
south  of  that  through  which  the  Hoosac  River  escapes. 

Concisely  to  outline  the  geography  of  the  Berkshire  Hills,  the 
grand  uplifted  table-land  described  by  Dr.  Palfrey  must  be  con- 
sidered as  here  cleft  —  above  its  solid  substructure  of  a  thousand 
feet  —  for  a  length  of  forty-eight  miles,  and  to  an  average  depth 
of  fifteen  hundred  feet ;  while  the  longitudinal  ridges  thus  formed 
are  serrated  by  transverse  valleys  of  less  than  one-third  that 
average,  supplemented  by  water-courses  furrowed  by  the  mountain- 
torrents. 

Between  the  longitudinal  ridges  known  as  the  Hoosac  and 
Taconic  Mountains  lies  the  Berkshire  Valley,  having  an  average 
breadth  of  about  six  miles;  although,  except  in  Pittsfield  and 
Sheffield,  it  is  made  to  appear  much  more  narrow  by  the  spurs 
which  protrude  into  it,  and  the  isolated  ranges  with  which  it  is 
thickly  studded.  In  the  basin  formed  by  this  valley  and  the 
declivities  which  incline  toward  it  is  concentfated  the  mass  of 
population  and  wealth  which  lend  character  to  the  county. 

The  natural  outlines  which  give  unity  to  the  region  are  sufficient- 
ly well  defined  ;  but  practically  it  is  divided  into  minor  compart- 
ments, so  arranged,  however,  as  to  form  a  homogeneous  whole, 
with  a  common  centre.  In  the  northern  section,  the  chief  barrier 
which  governs  this  division  is  the  Greylock  Range,  which,  begin- 
ning near  the  Vermont  line,  extends  southward  through  Lanes- 
borough.  In  the  south,  the  less  continuous  Tom  Ball  Spur,  thrown 
off  by  the  Taconics  at  Alford,  after  being  broken  through  by  the 
Williams  River  at  West  Stockbridge,  extends  to  Pittsfield,  where 
it  terminates  abruptly  in  the  Cliffwood  terraces  of  South  Mountain. 

Between  these  intersections  and  the  exterior  walls  of  the  county 
extend  four  valley-reaches,  marked  respectively  by  the  east  branch- 
es of  the  Hoosac  and  the  Housatonic,  by  the  west  branches  of 

1  Where  the  track  crosses  the  east  branch  of  the  Housatonic  in  Pittsfield. 


10  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  same  rivers,  by  the  Housatonic  after  the  junction,  and  by  the 
track  of  the  Western  Railroad  south-westward.  Into  these  grand 
subdivisions  of  the  Berkshire  Valley  open  a  multitude  of  others 
of  minor  importance. 

Midway  between  the  northern  and  southern  boundaries  of  the 
county,  the  intersecting  barriers  disappear;  and  the  confluent 
valleys  merge  in  the  six  miles  square  occupied  by  the  township 
of  Pittsfield,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  of  moderately  uneven 
surface,  with  large  spaces  approaching  the  character  of  plains. 
Only  rarely  do  the  highways  have  to  climb  greater  heights  than 
afford  an  agreeable  relief  to  the  traveller ;  and  few  sections  of  the 
town  oppose  more  obstacles  to  level  streets  than  are  found  in  many 
cities  and  towns  in  those  portions  of  New  England  not  accounted 
mountainous.  The  Taconics  impinge  but  slightly  upon  its  western 
border ;  the  Hoosacs  still  more  slightly  upon  its  eastern.  The 
only  formidable  elevations  are  Oceola  and  South  Mountain,  which 
cover  a  small  territory  in  the  south. 

It  will  readily  be  perceived  that  the  peculiar  divergence  of  the 
valleys  which  here  find  their  common  terminus  make  this  favored 
locality  the  centre  of  the  county  in  a  sense  and  to  a  degree  un- 
known in  regions  where  the  direction  of  roads  is  subject  to  hardly 
any  other  law  than  that  which  makes  the  shortest  distance  between 
two  points  a  straight  line.  Among  the  hills,  on  the  conti-ary,  every 
boy  who  goes  to  mfll  knows  that  the  farthest  road  round  is  often 
the  shortest  way  home. 

There  are  several  flourishing  centres  of  local  traffic  more  con- 
venient to  their  respective  sections  than  Pittsfield  is ;  but  it  needs 
only  an  inspection  of  the  map  to  show  how  exclusively  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  interior  ridges  of  the  county  makes  that  the  intersect- 
ing, radiating,  decussating  point  of  the  great  highways  of  Berkshire, 
—  at  once  the  only  practical  thoroughfare  between  her  northern 
and  southern  divisions  and  the  point  where  they  meet  each  other. 
The  traveller  at  one  of  the  extreme  corners  of  the  county,  wishing 
to  reach  that  longitudinally  opposite,  will  never  attempt  to  do  so 
by  the  most  direct  route,  —  if,  indeed,  any  exist  which  at  all  ap- 
proximate directness,  —  but,  at  whatever  cost  of  detour,  by  one  of 
those  which  intersect  at  the  central  town. 

And,  if  this  point  is  thus  marked  out  by  Nature  as  the  centre  of 
intercommunication  by  the  highway,  still  more  emphatically  is  it 
so  for  railway  travel,  which,  by  the  necessities  of  the  country,  is 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  11 

'  compelled  to  wind  among  the  mountain-defiles  in  a  course  so  cir- 
cuitous, that,  of  the  thirty-one  towns  which  compose  the  county, 
seventeen  —  containing  45,374  of  its  56,966  people  —  are  touched 
by  the  iron  rails  which  unite  at  Pittsfield ;  while  chartered  roads 
soon  to  be  built  will  add  the  most  populous  portion  of  the  remain- 
der to  the  connection. 

In  its  intercourse  with  the  world  outside  its  mountains,  Berk- 
shire, before  the  introduction  of  railroads,  was  circumscribed  almost 
as  narrowly  as  in  its  internal  thoroughfares.  How  formidable  a 
barrier  interposed  between  it  and  the  rest  of  Massachusetts  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  least  difficult  access  was  by  the 
Pontoosuck  Turnpike.  The  Western  Railroad  now  follows  the 
general  course  of  this  route,  sacrificing  directness,  sometimes,  in 
order  to  lessen  grades  ;  and  in  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  be- 
tween Tekoa  Mountain  and  Washington  Summit, — notwithstand- 
ing this  sacrifice  and  the  aid  of  the  most  skilful  engineering,  —  it  is 
compelled  to  ascend  twelve  hundred  and  eleven  feet,  of  which  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  are  surmounted  in  the  last  half  of  the  dis- 
tance by  a  grade  whose  maximum  is  more  than  eighty-two  feet  to 
the  mile.  The  Pontoosuck  Turnpike  in  its  best  estate  was  con- 
sidered, as  it  really  was,  a  marvel  of  engineering  skill,  and  encoun- 
tered no  such  grades  as  rendered  the  great  parallel  highways 
which  ran  north  and  south  of  it  almost  impassable  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year.  In  the  last  years  previous  to  the  building  of 
the  railroad,  the  stage-route  over  this  road  was  famed  also  for  the 
luxury  of  its  coaches  and  the  excellence  of  its  horses ; a  but  Capt. 
Marryatt,  in  his  "  American  Diary,"  having  graphically  described 
the  horrors  of  stage-travel  over  the  Hoosacs,  even  when  mitigated 
as  perfectly  as  they  could  be,  exclaimed  upon  "  the  madness  of 
certain  crazy  spirits  who  had  conceived  the  idea  of  constructing  a 
railroad  through  this  savage  region."  Time  soon  removed  the  im- 
putation of  madness  from  the  splendid  scheme ;  but  the  traveller 
gazing  from  the  car-windows  as-  the  locomotive  with  mighty  throes 
toils  up  the  Valley  of  the  Westfield  —  now  beneath  overhang- 
ing cliffs,  and  now  where  the  little  river  gleams  far  down  the  deep 
ravine  —  will  sympathize  with  the  admiration  of  his  British  prede- 
cessor for  that  daring  spirit  which  conceived  the  possibility  of  such 
an  achievement. 

1  The  Albany  and  Boston  stages,  run  by  several  noted  contractors,  among  whom 
Jason  Clapp,  Esq.,  still  a  venerable  citizen  of  Pittsfield,  was  prominent. 


12  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Upon  those  sides  of  the  county  which  border  upon  other  States, 
the  passes  were,  as  has  been  intimated,  less  difficult.  The  banks 
of  the  Housatonic  opened  a  convenient  avenue  along  which  inter- 
course with  the  Connecticut  towns  was  uninterrupted.  So  inti- 
mate was  the  connection  of  Berkshire  with  Hartford  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  that  "  The  Courant " l  was  not  only  the  medium 
through  which  the  political  contests  of  Pittsfield  were  carried  on, 
but  also  contained  the  advertisements  of  the  impounded  cattle  and 
runaway  slaves  of  that  town  and  of  Great  Barrington. 

Hartford  continued  to  draw  to  itself  a  large  portion  of  Berkshire 
trade  until  the  railroads  opened  new  avenues  in  other  directions ; 
but  even  before  that  era,  after  the  establishment  of  steamboats  upon 
the  Hudson,  it  was  successfully  rivalled  by  the  towns  upon  that 
river :  and. the  tide  of  traffic  flowed  through  the  West-Stockbridge 
gate  of  the  Taconics  to  Hudson,  Kinderhook,  and  Albany,  and 
thence  to  New  York.  On  the  north-west,  the  pass  of  the  Hoosacs, 
which,  to  the  dismay  of  all  Massachusetts,  had  long  ago  been  found 
out  by  the  French  and  Indian  foe,  in  later  times  furnished  a 
thoroughfare  for  more  peaceful  intercommunication ;  but,  as  no 
great  markets  then  lay  in  that  direction,  it  less  affected  the 
county. 

These  superior  facilities  for  intercourse  with  other  States  than 
with  Massachusetts  colored  not  only  the  business-relations,  but 
the  general  character  of  the  people  of  Berkshire;  and,  although 
the  traits  inherited  from  "  Old-Hampshire  "  ancestry  still  formed  the 
groundwork  of  thought  and  custom,  and  were  continually  re- 
invigorated  by  fresh  migrations  from  the  old  home,  they  were 
modified  by  much  which  had  been  spontaneously  engendered  in 
the  isolation  of  the  hills,  or  ingrafted  from  those  with  whom  con- 
tact was  more  frequent  than  with  kindred  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley. 

The  Western  Railroad  has  much  reduced  this  disparity  in  the 
external  communications  of  the  county.  The  journey  to  Boston, 
which  in  the  best  times  of  staging  consumed  two  weary  days,  now 
insensibly  glides  away  in  a  comfortable  ride  of  six  hours.  Berkshire, 
pleasantly  conscious  of  the  iron  bands  that  bind  her  to  the  rest  of 

1  The  files  of  "  The  Hartford  Courant,"  of  which  two  sets,  nearly  or  quite  com- 
plete, are  in  existence,  — one  in  possession  of  the  present  publishers  of  the  paper, 
and  the  other  in  that  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  —  are  full  of  most 
precious  matter  for  the  historian. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  13 

the  Commonweath,  feels  herself  more  truly  than  ever  a  part  of  the 
Old  Bay  State ;  but  still  three  competing  lines  of  railroad,  re-en- 
forced in  summer  by  steamers  on  the  Hudson  and  the  Sound,  cause 
the  great  mass  of  Berkshire  trade  and  travel  to  seek  New  York  as 
its  metropolis;  and,  as  a  natural  result,  the  county  receives  a 
powerful  social  and  intellectual  influence  from  the  same  centre. 

Returning  to  the  description  of  the  interior  geography  of  Berk- 
shire :  the  bottom  of  the  valley  rises,  with  the  bed  of  the  Housatonic, 
about  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  from  Sheffield  to  the  forks  of 
that  river  at  Pittsfield  ;  thence  the  bed  of  the  western  branch  rises 
over  one  hundred  feet,  to  the  foot  of  Greylock  in  New  Ashford, 
where  it  finds  the  summit  of  that  division  of  the  main  valley. 

The  many-headed  eastern  branch  is  formed  by  the  confluence  of 
innumerable  rivulets,  which  spring  up  among  the  hills  of  Peru, 
Washington,  Windsor,  and  Hinsdale.  In  Dalton,  it  is  of  sufficient 
capacity  to  drive  the  wheels  of  the  large  paper-manufactories  of 
that  town ;  and  at  Coltsville,  where  it  enters  Pittsfield,  it  furnishes 
one  of  the  best  water-powers  of  the  Upper  Housatonic. 

At  this  point,  it  receives  Unkamet  Brook,  a  large  tributary  which 
rises  in  Partridge  Meadow,  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Pittsfield. 
This  meadow  is  a  singular  formation  upon  the  summit  of  the . 
eastern  water-shed  of  the  Berkshire  Valley,  and  about  fifty  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  Housatonic,  at  the  junction  of  its  branches. 
Filled  with  pools  formed  by  boiling  springs,  —  the  common  foun- 
tains of  two  rivers,  —  so  level  is  its  surface,  that  oftentimes  it 
depends  upon  chance  which  of  the  drops  that  bubble  up  side  by 
side  shall  flow  into  Unkamet  Brook,  and  through  the  Housatonic 
to  the  Sound ;  and  which  into  the  Hoosac,  and  through  the  Hud- 
son to  the  sea.  So  slight,  indeed,  is  the  rising  of  the  valley-bottom 
in  this  vicinity,  that  a  dam  raised  four  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
highway  at  Coltsville  would  turn  all  the  waters  that  come  in  from 
Dalton,  and  from  Unkamet  Brook,  northward,  into  the  Hoosac. 

Thus  the  summit  of  the  Berkshire  Valley,  as  it  rises  north- 
ward from  Connecticut,  and  southward  from  the  Vermont  line,  is 
formed  by  a  ridge  extending  diagonally  from  New  Ashford,  across 
Lanesborough,  to  Coltsville ;  the  descent  from  its  highest  point  in 
New  Ashford  to  Sheffield  being  nearly  four  hundred  feet;  and 
upon  its  opposite  declivity  five  hundred  feet,  to  its  lowest  point 
in  Williamstown. 

Berkshire,  the  mountain  county  of  Massachusetts,  is  hardly  less 


14  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

pre-eminently  its  lake  shire ;  for  no  less  than  seventy  natural 
sheets  of  water,  —  lakes,  or  ponds  fed  by  springs,  —  varying  in  size 
from  twenty  acres  to  nine  hundred,  are  laid  down  upon  its  map ;  some 
shimmering  upon  the  very  tops  of  the  mountains,  some  reposing 
in  the  shadows  of  the  valley.  But,  although  they  add  a  thousand 
graces  to  the  landscape,  we  shall  not  stay  to  describe  or  even 
enumerate  them. 

They  act,  however,  an  important  part  in  the  economy  of  the 
county ;  being  employed  as  reservoirs  in  which  to  store  up  the 
waters,  which,  in  seasons  of  flood,  the  rivers  pour  with  wasteful 
impetuosity  to  the  sea.  For  this  purpose,  many  of  the  lakes  have 
been  considerably  enlarged  by  means  of  dams  of  stone  masonry 
of  sufficient  strength  to  resist  the  immense  pressure  which  is  often 
imposed  upon  them.  Their  numbers  have  also  been  re-enforced  by 
reservoirs,  wholly  artificial,  formed  by  massive  barriers  of  stone 
thrown,  at  great  expense,  across  the  outlets  of  mountain-rivulets. 
These  parvenus  of  Nature  often  rival  the  ancient  lakes  in  extent 
of  surface,  and  sometimes,  as  in  Wahconah  Reservoir  at  Windsor, 
in  depth. 

The  waters  pent  up  with  this  costly  economy,  as  well  as  those 
which  in  the  free  streams  trip  with  rippling  laughter  to  their 
tasks,  are  made  to  do  giant's  work  before  they  escape  out  of  the 
county.  Mainly  by  their  aid,  manufactures  have  come  to  be  the 
chief  source  of  its  material  prosperity ;  so  that  seventeen  millions, 
of  the  twenty-four  million  dollars  returned  as  the  value  of  its 
industrial  products  in  1865,  were  derived  from  that  source. 

The  principal  branches  into  which  the  manufactures  of  Berk- 
shire are  divided  are,  in  the  order  of  the  comparative  value  of  their 
products,  woollen  and  cotton  'cloths,  paper,  crude  iron,  leather, 
flour,  lime,  and  glass.  There  is  one  large  paper-mill  in  Pittsficld  ; 
but  Lee  and  Dalton  are  the  great  paper-making  towns,  each  sending 
more  of  that  product  to  market  than  any  others  on  the  continent. 
Cylinder  glass  is  made  at  East  Lanesborough  and  Cheshire,  and 
plate  glass  at  Lenox  Furnace,  from  the  purest  and  best  granulated 
quartz  known,  of  which  inexhaustible  beds  are  scattered  in  Berk- 
shire. Iron  to  the  annual  value  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six 
thousand  dollars  is  made  from  a  superior  brown  hematite,  of  which 
deposits  are  abundant.  Lime  is  made  from  pure  carbonates  to  the 
value  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  annually;  and  the  marble 
quarries  of  Berkshire  are  famous. 


TOPOGKAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  15 

In  agriculture,  Berkshire  ranks  among  the  foremost  counties  of 
the  State;  although  the  climate  of  the  more  elevated  sections 
forbids  the  culture  of  some  products  which  flourish  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Connecticut,  and  are  not  excluded  from  the  farms  of  Shef- 
field and  Great  Barrington.  Facilities  for  the  intermixture  of  soils, 
and  abundant  deposits  of  marl  and  muck,  favor  the  improvement 
of  inferior  lands;  while  the  mountain-grazing  tracts  afford  cheap 
pasturage  for  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep,  to  whose  breeding  much 
successful  attention  has  been  given.  Still,  in  spite  of  the  never 
glutted  market  furnished  by  the  manufacturing  towns  and  by 
the  influx  of  summer  visitors,  the  total  value  of  the  agricultural 
products  of  Berkshire  in  1865  was  only  $5,374,163. 

In  addition  to  the  sources  of  wealth  of  which  the  official  statis- 
tician takes  note,  that  of  Berkshire  is  augmented  by  the  attrac- 
tions which  its  superb  scenery  and  the  purity  of  its  atmosphere 
offer  to  permanent  and  migratory  residents,  summer  travellers, 
and  students  in  its  numerous  literary  institutions.  The  expendi- 
tures incident  to  the  working  of  the  railroads  which  traverse  the 
county  are  also  a  source  of  no  little  emolument  to  its  citizens. 

The  great  variety  of  resources,  thus  only  partially  enumerated, 
tend  to  prevent,  in  a  great  measure,  those  periods  of  distress 
which  are  apt  to  overtake  whole  communities,  when,  depending 
upon  a  single  fountain  of  employment,  they  find  that  suddenly 
dried  up.  Diversity  of  occupation  has  also  its  beneficial  effect 
upon  the  intellectual  character  of  the  people,  in  modes  of  operation 
which  need  not  be  specified. 

Such,  analytically,  is  the  fair  county,  which,  in  the  early  pages 
of  this  chapter,  we  attempted  to  portray  as  a  whole.  Somewhat 
more  cheerless  must  have  been  its  aspect  when  the  white  man  first 
began  to  penetrate  its  wilds ;  and  especially  when  he  found  it 
shrouded  in  the  snows  of  winter.  There  is  extant  an  old  Dutch 
map  (it  sends  a  shudder  through  one  to  remember  it),  upon 
which,  across  a  ghastly  expanse  of  white,  denoting  the  whole 
territory  which  is  now  Berkshire  and  Vermont,  stretch  in 
frightful  loneliness  the  frigid  syllables,  Win-ter-berg-e,  —  "  Winter 
Mountains," — meaning  the  hills  which  we,  with  a  pleasant  fiction 
of  perpetual  summer,  christen  Green:  a  very  dreary  map,  and 
surely  not  the  work  of  any  speculator  in  wild  lands  upon  the 
Hoosac  Mountains. 

Yet   even  then  Berkshire  had  a  unity  in  its  natural  features, 


,16  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

which  to  the  observer  overlooking  it  from  some  elevated  spot,  or 
threading  its  paths  as  a  surveyor,  must  have  marked  it  out  for  the 
home  of  a  community  with  common  interests  and  with  a.  homo- 
geneous character.  Time  has  developed  and  strengthened  these 
characteristics ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  that,  from  the  first, 
they  were  patent  to  such  men  as  Wendell,  Stoddard,  Pomeroy, 
the  Williamses,  and  others,  who,  with  shrewdness  as  well  as  energy, 
pushed  Massachusetts  civilization  towards  the  Hudson. 

The  name  of  the  Winterberge  suggests  that  the  geographical 
nomenclature  of  Berkshire  has  undergone  great  changes  since  the 
days  of  the  Dutch  explorers.  In  the  ancient  records,  deeds,  leases, 
and  the  like,  of  this  as  of  other  localities,  the  aboriginal  names  are 
often  spelled  with  lamentable  carelessness  or  caprice ;  two  or  three 
forms  of  the  same  word  often  appearing  in  a  single  document. 
Every  provincial  scrivener  held  himself  at  liberty  to  satisfy  his 
own  notions  of  euphony  by  lopping  off,  eliminating,  or  selecting 
from  the  luxuriant  syllables  which  were  said  to  have  been  grow- 
ing since  the  confusion  of  Babel,  The  result  is,  that  the  dismem- 
bered trunks  of  the  unfortunate  victims  often  defy  recognition 
by  any  except  the  most  patient  and  painstaking  philology.  The 
name  Taconic,  for  instance,  —  however  regretfully, we  yield  the  gut- 
tural and  natural  gh  to  persistent  innovation,  —  assumes  more  than 
two  score  of  transformations  in  the  archives  of  Massachusetts  ; 
now  expanding  to  generous  Taughkaughnick,  and  now  shrinking  to 
curt  Tacon :  while  the  original  form,  Taghkanak,  is  derived  from 
Taakhan,  or  Taghkan,  "  a  wood ; "  and  aki,  "  place ; "  and,  as  ap- 
plied to  the  mountains  may  be  translated,  "  The  Forest  Hills."  * 
Poontoosuck,  the  aboriginal  name  of  the  site  of  Pittsfield,  appears 
to  be  derived  from  Poon,  the  Mohegan  word  for  "  winter ; "  Altuck, 
"  a  deer ; "  and  /Suck,  the  final  syllable  in  which  that  language  makes 
its  plural,  and  signifies  "  the  winter  deer ; " 2  or  the  terminal  afc, 
which  indicates  the  name  of  a  place,  being  merged  in  the  plural 
ending,  —  "  the  haunt  of  the  winter  deer." 

But  the  problem  which  has  longest  and  most  profoundly  per- 
plexed the  students  of  our  aboriginal  geography  concerns  the 
name  of  that  beautiful  river  which  is  designated  by  syllables  as 
intricate  as  the  windings  of  its  graceful  curves,  and,  in  the  form 
they  have  finally  taken,  are  as  musical  as  the  murmur  of 

1  Trans.  Am.  Ant.  Soc.,  v.  2,  p.  337. 

2  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSF1ELD.  17 

its  ripples.  The  whole  difficulty  has,  however,  we  apprehend, 
arisen  from  the  very  natural  mistake  of  seeking  for  the  word 
"  Housatonic  "  an  aboriginal  derivation,  while  its  primitive  form  was, 
in  fact,  Dutch.  In  the  writings  of  the  early  settlers  and  surveyors, 
and  even  of  the  missionaries,  no  word  suffered  more  severely  from 
the  confused  orthography  of  the  period  than  this.  Its  trans- 
mutations were  innumerable.  Hubbard  of  Ipswich,  the  early 
XfW-England  annalist,  wrote,  Ausotunnoog;  which  has  a  quasi 
Algonquin  twang,  and  was,  doubtless,  communicated  to  him 
through  the  medium  of  Algonquin  throats,  whose  owners  could, 
nevertheless,  have  gathered  from  the  grating  sounds  only  a  purely 
arbitrary  meaning.  If  Mr.  Hubbard  had  asked  them  why  they 
so  designated  the  river,  they  could  have  given  him  no  better 
reason  than  that  of  the  comic  song,  — 

"  The  reason  why  they  called  him  John 
Was  because  it  was  his  name." 

In  the  papers  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Commonwealth, 
the  county,  and  towns,  some  of  the  more  frequent  forms  which  the 
word  assumes  are  Housatunnuk,  Houssatonnoc,  Houstunnok, 
Hooestenok,  Awoostenok,  Asotonik,  Ousatonac;  and  in  all  these 
forms,  the  consonants,  except  the  final,  are  made  double  or  single, 
and  the  terminal  syllable  is  spelled  indifferently,  t'A1,  ak,  o/c,  or  uk. 
Sergeant  and  Hopkins,  the  earliest  preachers  among  the  Indians, 
wrote  Housatunnok;  but  comparison  with  other  forms  leads  to 
the  belief  that  what  is  now  pronounced  as  the  first  syllable  was 
originally  two,  — Ho-us.  President  Dwight  preferred  Hooestennuc, 
and,  probably,  with  good  reason ;  although  the  meaning  which 
he  ascribes  to  the  word,  "  the  river  beyond  the  mountains,"  after 
the  most  patient  and  laborious  research  by  the  most  competent 
students,  finds  nothing  to  give  it  color,  either  in  the  language 
spoken  by  the  Mohegans  or  in  that  of  their  Iroquois  conquerors. 
And  yet,  in  a  certain  sense,  this  may  have  been  the  meaning  at- 
tached to  it  by  the  Mohegans;  for,  if  the  name  was  bestowed 
while  the  tribe,  dwelling  in  the  Valley  of  the  Hudson,  were  accus- 
tomed annually  to  cross  the  Taconics  for  hunting-seasons  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Housatonic,  the  name  of  the  latter  river,  whatever, 
may  have  been  the  original  signification  of  its  syllables,  would  have 
represented  to  them,  in  ordinary  thought,  the  river  beyond  the 
mountains:  precisely  as  when  the  Narragansett-  slaughter  was 


18  TOPOGEAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

called  to  mind,  it  represented  the  river  of  the  massacre ;  or,  in 
another  mood  of  thought,  the  stream  on  whose  banks  the  white 
man  preached  the  Christian  gospel.  But  in  process  of  time  the 
relation  in  which  the  river  was  most  commonly  contemplated 
would  communicate  its  peculiar  significance  to  its  name.  And 
thus,  when  President  Dwight  asked  of  some  Mohegan,  "  What 
do  you  mean  by  Hooestenok?"  it  is  altogether  likely  that  the 
answer  was,  "The  river  beyond  the  mountains;"  just  as  we  should 
reply  to  a  similar  question,  "  The  winding  river  of  the  Berkshire 
Valley."  * 

We  can  thus  well  understand  how  the  learned  president's  habits 
of  investigation,  while  they  would  lead  him  very  near  to  accuracy 
in  adjusting  his  orthography  to  the  native  pronunciation,  would 
not  necessarily  protect  him  from  falling  into  error  in  the  transla- 
tion.2 

Those  who  read  the  traditions  told  by  the  Stockbridge  Indians 
will  suspect  them  of  imaginations  fertile  in  statements  adapted  to 
the  tastes  of  their  hearers ;  but,  to  do  them  justice,  none  of  them 
(or,  at  least,  none  of  any  reputation)  ever  pretended  to  attribute  a 
descriptive  meaning  to  any  of  the  forms  which  the  name  of  the 
river  of  their  homes  put  on.  The  chiefs  Konkapot  —  or,  not  to 
dwarf  their  somewhat  unmanageable  patronymic,  Poph-ue-hon- 
nuh-woh  —  were  men  of  good  natural  parts,  and  received  excellent 
educations.  They  were  also  profoundly  versed  in  all  the  lore  of 
their  tribe.  From  them  were  obtained  the  names  given  by  the 
natives  to  many  features  of  Berkshire  geography,  and  the  transla- 
tions of  their  meaning  ;  but  they  could  make  nothing  except  an  ar- 
bitrary appellation  of  the  word  "Housatonic;"  nor  could  Hendrick 
Aupaumut,  the  professed  chronicler  of  his  people.  Several  mis- 
sionaries familiarized  themselves  with  the  Mohegan  tongue,  and, 

1  Since  the  foregoing  paragraphs  were  written,  we  have  been  informed  by  Mr. 
Charles  J.  Taylor,  that,  in  the  copy  of  the  deeds  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Housatonic 
townships,  the  name  of  the  river  is  given  once  as  the  "Housatonic  or  Westanock," 
and  again  as  the  "  Housatonic  or  Westonook."  Mr.  Taylor,  who  has  given  much 
thought  and  investigation  tq  the  subject,  has  no  doubt,  that,  in  the  different  deeds 
and  patents  of  the  Livingston  Manor,  the  words,  "  Wawwichtonock,"  "  Waw- 
yachtanock,"  "  Wawijchtanok,"  and  "  Wawijachtanook  "  are  as  correct  represen- 
tations of  the  Indian  pronunciation  of  the  word  we  call  Housatonic  as  the  writers 
of  those  papers  could  make  with  our  alphabet. 

3  It  must  be  remembered  that  Dr.  Dwight's  inquiries  were  made  by  him  as  a 
curious  traveller,  rather  than  as  an  exact  philologist. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  1$ 

being  men  of  cultivated  and  inquiring  minds,  would  not  have  left 
so  interesting  a  subject  uninvestigated  ;  but  they  extracted  no  in- 
terpretation of  this  word  from  their  philological  researches.1  Mr. 
J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  the  most  eminent  student  at  the  present 
day  in  the  Algonquin  dialects,  and  perhaps  in  all  the  aboriginal 
languages  of  North  America,  confesses  himself  unable  to  find  a 
satisfactory  interpretation  for  the  refractory  syllables.  The  most 
plausible  suggestion,  which  considers  the  word  as  of  Algonquin 
origin,  is  that  of  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  the  able  historian  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  who  supposes  it  to  be  derived  from  Husson, 
"  rock,"  and  Aki,  "  place ; "  the  at  being  introduced  for  the  sake  of 
euphony.  This  theory  is  favored  by  the  fact  that  the  Stockbridge 
chiefs,  in  their  address  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Provinces  at 
Albany  in  1754,  characterized  their  home  as  "a  rocky  place." 
This  interpretation  is,  however,  met  by  the  objection,  that,  had  it 
been  correct,  it  would  have  almost  certainly  been  given  by  the 
native  chroniclers,  who  translated  with  great  precision  the  names 
of  the  Hudson  and  Connecticut  Rivers,  and  affirmed  the  reasons  for 
them  with  entire  positiveness.  And  the  still  more  serious  diffi- 
culty lies  in  its  way,  that  it  is  inapplicable  to  several  of  the  more 
frequent  forms  which  the  word  assumes. 

Now,  to  abandon  the  field  which  has  been  so  faithfully  explored 
with  such  meagre  results,  let  us  turn  to  one  which  is  at  least  fresh, 
if,  at  first  thought,  less  promising. 

Previous  to  the  Revolution,  then,  a  chorographic  map  of  the 
Province  of  New  York,  including  the  disputed  territory  as  far  as 
the  Connecticut  River,  was,  by  order  of  Gov.  Tryon,  compiled  from 
actual  surveys  deposited  in  the  patent  office.  This  authoritative 
work  was  published  at  London  in  1779,  and  reproduced  in  1849, 
in  the  first  volume  of  "  The  Documentary  History  of  New  York," 
where  the  reader  may  probably  have  access  to  it.  And,  upon  in- 
specting the  course  of  the  Housatonic  River,  he  will  find,  that  near 
its  source  it  is  styled  the  Stratford,  and  above  tide-water  the 
Westenhok  or  Housatunnuk. 

The  difference,  it  will  readily  be  perceived,  between  the  Dutch 

1  Rev.  Dr.  Field,  the  accurate,  learned,  and  painstaking  historian  of  the  county, 
is  silent  on  this  subject ;  and  Rev.  Dr.  William  Allen,  the  best  authority  upon 
matters  pertaining  to  the  early  Berkshire  divines,  says  in  a  note  to  his  poem  at  the 
Berkshire  Jubilee,  "  It  is  remarkable  that  none  of  the  teachers  of  the  Indians  have 
in  any  of  their  writings  given  the  meaning  of  the  word  '  Housatonic.'  " 


20  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

WestenhoJc  and  President  D wight's  Hooestennuc,  —  or,  as  it  is 
also  written,  Hooestenok,  —  is  barely  the  transfer  of  the  aspirate 
from  the  last  syllable  to' the  first. 

The  inference  is  almost  irresistible,  that  the  long-sought  deriva- 
tion of  our  musical  Housatonic  is  found  in  the  not  unmusical  Dutch 
of  Westenhok ;  for  it  is  hardly  possible  that  so  close  a  resem- 
blance between  the  two  names  of  the  river  was  a  mere  accidental 
coincidence.  The  translation  of  the  word  is,  "  West  corner,"  (or 
"nook")  ;  and  the  appellation  Housatonic  is  thus  both  truthfully  and 
poetically  descriptive  of  the  winding  river  of  our  western  nook 
among  the  mountains. 

The  origin  and  subsequent  transformations  of  the  name  may 
easily  be  deduced  from  well-authenticated  facts.  The  capital 
village  of  the  Mohegans  was  at  Schodac  on  the  Hudson,  but  little 
farther  than  twenty-five  miles  from  the  Housatonic  at  Pitts- 
field.  Here  Hendrick  Hudson,  in  1609,  visited  them  in  «  The  Half- 
Moon,"  and,  forming  the  chain  of  friendship,  commenced  an  inter- 
course which  was  kept  up  from  that  time,  with  little  intermission, 
by  the  Dutch  of  the  New  Netherlands.  Trading  and  military  posts 
were  established  at  Castle  Island1  in  1614,  and,  three  years  later, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Tawasentha.  In  1615,  we  find  Jacob  Elkins, 
an  active  and  energetic  commander  and  commercial  agent,  prose- 
cuting a  quiet  traffic,  already  commenced,  with  the  Mohawks  and 
Mohegans ;  while  his  "  scouting-parties  were  constantly  engaged 
in  exploring  all  the  neighboring  country,  and  in  becoming  better 
acquainted  with  the  savage  tribes  around  them,  with  all  of  whom 
it  was  the  constant  policy  of  the  Dutch  to  cultivate  the  most 
friendly  relations." 2 

These  scouting-parties,  traversing  the  forests  in  all  directions, 
often  visited  the  Valley  of  the  Housatonic;  where,  indeed,  the  Eng- 
lish pioneers  a  century  afterwards  found  Dutchmen  domiciled 
among  the  natives  —  who  had  made  them  gifts  of  lands — acting 
as  interpreters,  and  possessing  much  influence.  Now,  the  Mohe- 
gans, in  their  first  intercourse  with  these  winsome  strangers,  when- 
ever they  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  winding-river-of-their-hunt- 
ing-grounds-beyond-the-mountains,  doubtless  indicated  it  by  some 

1  A  locality  now  so  completely  merged  in  the  city  of  Albany  as  to  almost  lose 
its  insular  character.  The  Tawasentha  River,  or  Norman's  Kill,  enters  the  Hud- 
son a  few  miles  farther  south. 

-  Brodhead's  History  of  New  York,  pp.  55,  67,  81. 


.    TOPOGKAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  21 

phrase  in  their  dialect  as  cumbrous  as  that  which  we  have  just 
employed  in  English  ;  for  with  them  every  name  was  a  phrase,  and 
was  very  likely  to  be  a  cumbrous  one. 

The  clumsy  appellation  which  we  have  supposed  must  have 
been  extremely  inconvenient  for  the  busy  fur-traders,  who,  instead 
of  the  more  common  practice  of  curtailing  its  undue  proportions, 
succeeded  in  persuading  the  natives  to  adopt  in  its  stead  the 
simpler  Westenhok ;  which  was  the  name  of  a  tract  of  land  that 
lay  between  the  Housatonic  in  Sheffield,  and  its  large  tributary, 
now  known  as  Salmon  Creek,  which  rises  on  the  west  of  the 
Taconics,  and  joins  the  main  stream  at  South  Canaan  in  Connecti- 
cut. The  river  thus  received  its  name  in  the  upper  part  of 'its 
course  from  the  district  which  it  there  washed,  as,  in  the  lower,  it 
took  that  of  the  town  which  stood  at  its  mouth,  —  Stratford. 
When  it  first  began  to  be  so  called  is  uncertain.  In  the  grant  of 
the  lands  of  Westenhook 1  in  1705,  they  are  described  as  thus 
known ;  and  both  they  and  the  river  may  have  been  so  for  a  cen- 
tury before  inquiry  began  to  be  made  into  the  origin  and  meaning 
of  the  word  "Housatonic."  In  the  mean  while,  there  was  abun- 
dant time  for  it  to  suffer  stranger  changes  than  it  actually  under- 
went, in  its  transmission  through  four  or  five  rasping  generations 
of  Algonquin  throats.  It  may  be  added,  in  further  explanation  of 
the  obscurity  which  hangs  over  this  subject,  that,  if  the  truth  con- 
cerning it  ever  became  known  to  any  Massachusetts  investigator 
during  the  period  when  the  New-York  boundary  was  in  dispute, 
he  would  have  been  almost  sure  to  suppress  it,  as  tending  to  support 
the  Dutch  claim  to  priority  of  occupation ;  and,  for  the  same  rea- 
son, he  may  have  shrewdly  favored  that  orthography  which  most 
effectually  concealed  the  European  features  of  Westenhook  under 
an  aboriginal  mask. 

The  boundary  disputes  were  not  settled  until  the  year  previous 
to  the  breaking-out  of  the  Revolution ;  and  the  jealousies  which 
they  engendered  still  linger  in  the  more  old-fashioned  nooks  of 
both  New  York  and  Berkshire :  so  that  truths  which  are  incon- 
sistent with  prejudice  on  either  side  are  apt  to  be  pushed  out  of 
sight. 

1  Westenhook,  the  more  correct  spelling  of  the  word,  is  the  least  frequent  upon 
the  old  maps  of  the  river. 


!P  A.  H  T     II. 


PITTSFIELD. 

General  Description.  —  Adjoining  Towns.  —  Lakes,  Streams,  Mountains.  —  Fish. 
—  Manufactories.  —  Outlying  Villages.  —  Central  Village.  —  The  Old  Elm.  — 
Maplewood.  —  Springside.  —  Churches.  —  Banks  and  Insurance  Offices.  — 
Kailroads.  —  County  Buildings.  —  Population  and  Valuation. 

A  CORRECT  general  idea  of  the  position  which  the  territory 
J~\  whose  history  we  are  about  to  narrate  occupies  in  the  geo- 
graphical and  physical  system  of  Berkshire  has,  we  trust,  been  con- 
veyed by  the  preceding  chapter.  And  to  most  readers  the  name  of 
Pittsfield  is  familiar  as  that  of  one  of  the  most  charming  country 
towns  in  New  England,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  traveller  in  search 
of  health  or  pleasure,  a  seat  of  thriving  manufactories  and  flourish- 
ing institutions  of  learning,  and  as,  from  time  to  time,  the  home 
of  men  of  note.  A  somewhat  more  minute  description  of  some  of 
its  physical  characteristics  will,  however,  facilitate  a  comprehension 
of  its  story. 

Pittsfield  is  fortunate  in  its  neighboring  towns,  scarce  one  of 
which  but  possesses  some  attraction  for  the  visitor  peculiar  to 
itself:  while  many  are  widely  celebrated  for  rural  loveliness  and 
exquisite  scenery ;  for  literary,  historical,  and  religious  associa- 
tions ;  for  connection  with  gigantic  physical  enterprises ;  for  mineral 
wealth,  or  for  remarkable  manufactures. 

Of  the  towns  which  adjoin  it,  Lanesborough,  its  next  northern 
neighbor,  rivals  in  its  natural  scenery  the  most  famous  localities  of 
Berkshire;  is  of  fine  agricultural  capacity;  has  boarding-schools  of 
much  repute ;  possesses  superior  beds  of  brown  hematite  ore,  and 
of  granular  quartz,  with  costly  furnaces  for  their  conversion  respec- 

22 


TOPOGRAPHY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  23 

lively  into  crude  iron  and  cylinder  glass ;  and  contains  also  many 
good  quarries  of  marble  and  compact  limestone. 

Dalton  —  of  paper-making  fame,  and  containing  more  than  one 
beautiful  and  wealthy  village  —  lies  upon  the  east.  Mountainous 
and  picturesque  Washington  encloses  its  south-eastern  angle. 
Lenox,  the  favorite  and  famous  summer  resort,  bounds  it  partially 
upon  the  south ;  on  which  side  it  is  also  joined  by  Richmond,  a 
noble  agricultural  town,  and  rich  also  in  iron  mines  and  marble.  On 
the  west,  the  long  and  narrow  town  of  Hancock  —  with  its  fertile 
and  beautiful  valley,  its  romantic  hills,  and  its  neat  Shaker  village, 
"  the  city  of  peace "  —  interposes  a  strip  barely  two  miles  wide 
between  Pittsfield  and  New  Lebanon,  the  seat  of  the  popular 
mineral  springs  and  the  capital  of  the  Shaker  Church. 

Pittsfield  has  already  been  described  as  of  moderately  uneven 
surface,  and  nearly  surrounded  by  mountains,  through  which,  by 
convenient  passes,  narrow  but  rich  valleys  stretch  away  to  the 
extremities  of  the  county. 

The  lakes  and  streams  with  which  it  abounds  have  as  yet  been, 
equally  with  its  central  position,  the  sources  of  its  material  pros- 
perity ;  and  we  shall  give  them  our  next  attention. 

Six  lakes  or  lakelets  lie  wholly  or  in  part  within  the  town :  all 
of  them  beautiful,  and  some  of  them  noted  for  their  graceful  out- 
lines and  the  delightful  combinations  which  they  form  with  the 
surrounding  mountains.  All  more  or  less  directly  feed  streams 
which  furnish  motive-power  to  large  manufactories ;  and  four  have 
had  their  capacities  for  this  purpose  artificially  increased. 

Fanciful  legends  attach  to  some  of  the  prettiest ;  and  all  have 
a  veritable  history  of  their  own. 

Pontoosuc,  the  second  in  size,  lies  upon  the  northern  border  of 
Pittsfield,  Lanesborough  claiming  more  than  half  its  surface. 
Previous  to  its  enlargement,  which  took  place  in  1867,  it  was  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  long,  and  at  its  broadest  point  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  wide;  covering  an  area  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres.  It  now  covers  five  hundred  and  seventy-five;  the  increase 
being  chiefly  in  Lanesborough. 

Before  this  change,  two  little  islets  dotted  its  bosom ;  and  the 
highway,  after  passing  a  noble  grove  of  pines,  —  the  relic  of 
one  of  the  finest  forests  which  ever  grew  in  Berkshire,  —  and  some 
much  admired  isolated  trees  of  deciduous  growth,  skirted  close 
along  the  graceful  windings  of  the  whole  eastern  shore.  The 


24  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

view  from  the  southern  approach  was  one  to  be  remembered  for  its 
beauty,  and  was  not  deficient  in  grandeur  as  the  eye,  glancing 
across  the  quiet  lake  with  its  twin  islets  and  grove-shaded  bunks, 
took  in  Constitution  Hill,  —  its  crown  shaven  like  a  monk's,  —  and 
then  swept  on  through  a  vista  of  twelve  miles  formed  by  Prospect, 
St.  Luke's,  and  Pratt's  Hills,  Round  Rock,  and  other  noble  eleva- 
tions, to  that  grand  background  of  so  many  Berkshire  views,  — 

"  where  look  majestic  forth 

From  their  twin  thrones  the  giants  of  the  north, 
On  the  rude  shapes,  that,  crouching  at  their  knees, 
Stretch  their  broad  shoulders,  rough  with  shaggy  trees."  —  HOLMES. 

On  the  west,  some  two  miles  away,  lay  globe-crested  Mount  Hon- 
wee  and  other  Taconic  summits,  often  reflected  by  the  glassy  lake 
in  mirror-like  perfection,  and  if  it  chanced  to  be  of  a  clear,  still  day, 
after  the  mountain  sides  had  put  on  their  October  hues,  presenting 
a  spectacle  of  rare  gorgeousness.  Poutoosuc  Lake,  as  it  was,  is  a  pic- 
ture—  nay,  a  cabinet  of  pictures  —  which  lives  among  the  choicest 
memories  of  thousands.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  less  lovely  now;  but 
all  the  nearer  charms  of  the  landscape  are  changed,  and  even  the 
more  distant  assume  a  new  aspect.  Island  and  pillared  grove  are 
gone,  submerged  by  the  rising  waters ;  and  the  traveller  passing 
over  the  highway,  now  made  to  climb  the  neighboring  hill,  finds 
new  beauties,  but  not  the  same.  The  landscape  may  in  time 
become  even  more  charming  than  it  was  of  old  ;  although  neither 
the  eye  of  man  nor  the  dashing  of  the  wavelet  can  at  once  accus- 
tom itself  to  the  new  demarcations. 

But  the  Pittsfield  lakes,  great  as  have  been  the  changes  in  their 
outlines,  have  been  still  more  unstable  in  their  nomenclature. 
Thus,  the  Mohegan  name  of  Pontoosuc  was  Shoon-keck-moon-keek ; 
and  it  was  so  designated  in  the  deeds  which  conveyed  its  shores  to 
their  first  white  occupants.  Some  settlers  from  Middlesex  County 
having  planted  New  Framingham,  Shoon-keek-moon-keek  was,  in 
accordance  with  the  common  fate  of  Indian  names,  soon  lost 
in  Framingham  Pond.  The  plantation  developing  into  the  town 
of  Lanesborough :  then  came  Lanesborough  Pond ;  although  by 
the  matter-of-fact  people  of  Pittsfield,  who  always  took  their  bear- 
ings from  their  meeting-house,  it  was  often  styled  the  North,  as 
other  sheets  of  water  were  called  East,  West,  and  South  Ponds. 

But,  in  1824,  the  Pontoosuc  Woollen  Manufacturing  Company 


TOPOGRAPHY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  25 

purchased  the  water-privilege  and  adjacent  lands  at  its  outlet, 
upon  which  they  built  the  mill  whose  products  have  since  made  its 
name  familiar,  at  least  in  commercial  circles,  the  country  over; 
and  naturally  Shoon-keek-moon-keek  received  probably  its  final 
transformation  into  Pontoosuc  Lake. 

One  of  its  appellations  has,  however,  been  omitted  from  the 
catalogue;  it  having  been  for  many  years  in  familiar  conversation 
called  "Joe  Keller's  Farm:"  from  the  anecdote  that  a  wag  of  that 
name  once  bargained  it  away,  and  actually  made  a  deed  of  it,  to  a 
New-York  citizen,  who  mistook  it,  when  covered  with  snow  and 
ice,  for  a  level  expanse,  and  had  the  good  taste  to  be  charmed  with 
the  singular  and  romantic  situation  of  its  broad  surface  among  the 
hills. 

Lake  Onota,  which  lies  in  a  pretty  upland  basin,  a  little  more 
than  a  mile  west  of  the  Park,  is  the  largest  and  most  beautiful 
sheet  of  water  in  Berkshire ;  excepting,  as  regards  size,  one  or  two 
artificial  reservoirs.  Before  its  enlargement,  which  was  made  in 
1864,  it  was  a  mile  and  three-quarters  long,  and  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  wide ;  having  an  area  of  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  acres, 
which  is  now  increased  to  six  hundred  and  eighty-three.  The 
elevation  of  its  surface  caused  great  changes  in  the  outlines  of  its 
northern  and  western  shores;  and  destroyed  its  most  marked 
feature,  which  was  a  division  of  its  waters  by  a  causeway  into  two 
independent  lakes,  of  which  the  northern,  and  much  the  smaller,1 
was  formed  by  a  dam  thrown  across  its  outlet  by  those  industrious 
builders  of  a  race  now  long  extinct,  in  Berkshire,  —  the  beavers. 
Traces  of  their  workmanship  were  distinctly  visible  until  they 
were  recently  submerged  by  the  labors  of  engineers  as  indefatiga- 
ble and  more  Titanic  than  themselves. 

On  the  western  shore,  the  larger  pebbles  of  the  beach  —  some 
of  which,  indeed,  might  aspire  to  the  title  of  boulders — were 
thrown  up  by  the  action  of  ice  into  a  wall,  which  had  all  the  sem- 
blance of  a  work  of  art.  Indeed,  it  was  the  old-time  faith  of  the 
neighborhood,  that  it  was  built  by  the  Indians  as  a  screen  from 
behind  which  they  might  shoot  the  deer  which  were  accustomed 
to  resort  to  the  lake,  —  not  so  much  to  drink,  which  they  might 
have  done  as  well  at  a  hundred  brooks,  as  to  lie  through  the 
heat  of  the  summer  days  in  its  cooling  waves,  with  their  nostrils, 
however,  necessarily  exposed.  Certain  it  is,  that  this  old  wall  was 

1  It  had  an  area  of  about  thirty-four  acres. 


26  TOPOGEAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

used  as  a  covert,  not  only  by  the  aborigines,  but  by  the  deer-slayers 
among  the  eai'ly  white  inhabitants. 

This  curious  illustration  of  the  power  of  floating  ice  —  like  the 
causeway  which  used  to  divide  the  waters  —  is  now  hidden  when 
the  lake-surface  is  at  its  ordinary  height;  and  possibly  the  same 
agency  which  built,  may  in  time  remove  it  to  the  new  line  of  the 
shore. 

But,  great  as  have  been  the  changes  which  Onota  has  undergone, 
they  have  affected  its  curious  rather  than  its  picturesque  features ; 
and  its  beauty  is  increased  instead  of  being  impaired.  From  the 
hill  upon  its  south-western  shore,  which  was  fortified  in  the  old 
French  and  Indian  wars,  a  greater  number  of  fine  views  are 
afforded  than  perhaps  from  any  other  spot  of  equal  compass  in 
Berkshire ;  and,  of  these,  the  most  pleasing  are  those  which  em- 
brace the  lake  and  the  mountains,  which,  beyond  it,  stretch  away 
to  ever-present  Greylock. 

Richmond  Lake,  which  formerly  lay  about  equally  in  the  town 
of  that  name  and  in  Pittsfield,  was  originally  of  a  nearly  circular 
form,  and  had  an  area  of  ninety-eight  acres.  In  1865,  it  was 
enlarged  to  .two  hundred  and  fifty,  —  the  greater  portion  of  the 
addition  being  in  Pittsfield,  —  and  lost  that  regular  spherical  figure 
by  which  it  used  to  be  pleasantly  recognized  from  the  moun- 
tain-tops. Upon  the  old  maps,  Richmond  Lake  is  South  Pond; 
and  a  small  body  near  it,  now  long  since  drained,  was 
designated  Rathbun's  Pond,  in  reference  to  Valentine  Rathbun, 
who,  about  the  year  1769,  built  clothiers'  works  near  it. 

Silver  is  the  pretty  but  not  over  distinctive  name  of  the  pretty 
lakelet  which  the  traveller  over  the  Western  Railroad  observes, 
as,  entering  the  village  from  the  east,  he  passes  its  northern 
verge.  It  now  covers  about  sixty  acres,  having  been  enlarged  in 
1843,  as  one  of  the  reservoirs  of  the  Pittsfield  cotton-factory.  It 
was  known  among  the  first  settlers  as  Ensign's  Pond,  from  Jacob 
Ensign,  who  built  the  first  fulling-mill  in  Pittsfield,  and  owned 
the  land  along  the  eastern  borders  of  the  lake.  In  later  days,  a 
hat-factory  was  erected  on  its  northern  shore,  and  it  took  the 
name  of  Hatter's  Pond.  But  the  hatters  went  elsewhere ;  and  the 
name,  having  lost  its  significance,  gave  place  to  the  present  less  ugly 
although  not  strikingly  novel  appellation.  The  secluded  lakelet, 
of  some  thirty  acres  extent,  about  a  mile  east  of  Silver  Lake,  and, 
like  it,  connected  by  a  short  outlet  with  the  eastern  branch  of  the 


TOPOGRAPHY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  27 

Housatonic,  is  laid  down  on  Walling's  generally  very  accurate 
map  of  Berkshire  as  "  Sylvan  Lake,"  although  rarely  so  called. 
The  meadow  in  which  it  lies  was,  on  the  earliest  plans,  named 
"  Unkamet's ; "  and  the  lakelet  was  perhaps  entitled  to  the  same 
appellation.  But  it  was  early  known  as  Goodrich  Pond,  from  one 
of  the  most  noted  settlers,  who  owned  large  tracts  of  land  in  that 
vicinity ;  and  there  seems  no  good  reason  why  the  name  of  the 
stout  old  patriot  and  worthy  magistrate  should  not  continue  to  be 
preserved  in  the  name  of  Goodrich  Lake. 

Last,  and  among  the  loveliest  of  the  group,  is  Melville  Lake,  of 
perhaps  thirty-five  acres,  lying  east,  a  little  to  the  north,  of 
South  Mountain,  —  a  gem-like,  crystal  water,  hidden  among  groves 
interlaced  with  .frequent  picturesque  paths,  that  often  debouch 
upon  sunny  lawns  or  gravelly  beaches.  It  has  for  many  years 
been  a  favorite  haunt  of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  men  in 
politics  and  literature,  while  guests  of  the  broad-hailed  mansion 
in  whose  grounds  it  is  included,  and  which  has  been  successively 
the  hospitable  home  of  Henry  Van  Schaack,  Elkanah  Watson, 
Thomas  and  Robert  Melville,  and  J.  R.  Morewood.  The  lakelet 
has  borne  in  turn  the  names  of  all  these  owners ;  but,  on  the 
county  map,  it  appears  as  Lilly  Bowl,  an  exceedingly  descriptive 
although  fanciful  designation  bestowed  by  the  family  of  the  present 
proprietor.  The  name  of  Melville  is,  however,  surrounded  by  too 
many  pleasant  and  honorable  associations  to  be  lightly  abandoned ; 
and  the  people  cling  to  it  with  a  pertinacity  which  promises  to  be 
lasting.  Melville  Lake  it  will  doubtless  continue  to  be  in  ordi- 
nary usage ;  while  Lilly  Bowl  maybe  its  pet  or  poetic  title,  —  a 
result  which  is  certainly  not  to  be  regretted  a3sthetically. 

Melville  Lake  sends  its  surplus  waters  to  the  Housatonic 
through  Wampenum  Brook,  a  little  stream,  which,  on  its  passage 
from  above,  touches  its  northern  edge. 

This  brook,  rising  in  the  meadows  on  the  north-west  of  South 
Mountain,  passes  through  a  little  pond  of  the  same  name  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  and  crosses  the  highway  a  little  south  of  the 
Housatonic  Railroad.  It  furnishes  a  small  water-power,  but  is 
here  chiefly  noted  as  a  convenient  landmark  for  future  reference. 
It  derives  its  name  from  Wampenum,  who,  with  Mahtookamin  and 
Cochecomeek,  claimed  the  soil  upon  which  Pittsfield  is  built,  and 
leased  it  to  Col.  John  Stoddard.  By  the  terms  of  the  lease, 
"the  land  would  have  long  since  reverted  to  its  red  owners  and 


28  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

their  heirs;  but  the  revival  of  a  long-dormant  interest  in  the 
name  of  these  little  waters  is  all  they  are  likely  to  recover.  Let 
us  not  begrudge  them  that. 

The  forks  of  the  Housatonic  River  unite  in  Pittsfield,  two  miles 
north  of  the  Lenox  line,  and  a  few  rods  south  of  the  Pittsfield  Cot- 
ton Factory.  The  eastern,  formerly  known  as  the  main,  branch 
has  already  been  described,  with  its  chief  tributaries,  Silver  and 
Goodrich  Lakes  and  Unkamet  Brook.  In  addition  to  these  it 
receives,  from  the  eastern  hills,  Barton  Brook  at  Coltsville,  and 
Brattle  near  Goodrich  Lake.  The  western  branch  rises  in  New 
Ashford,  passes  through  Lanesborough,  and  enters  Pittsfield  in 
Pontoosuc  Lake,  which  is  properly  an  expansion  of  its  waters. 
Issuing  thence,  it  runs  southerly,  almost  in  a  direct  line,  to  Pom- 
eroy's  factories,  where  it  turns  abruptly  to  the  south-east,  and,  after 
the  passage  of  about  a  mile,  joins  the  main  stream.  This  branch 
was  laid  clown  on  some  of  the  old  maps  as  the  Pontoosuc  River. 
Three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  the  Park,  it  receives  the  waters 
of  Lake  Onota  through  Onota  Brook,  a  beautiful  streamlet  which 
flows  through  the  Pittsfield  cemetery.  A  few  rods  south  of  Pom- 
eroy's  factories,  it  is  joined  by  Shaker  Brook  ;  which  rises  in  several 
fountains  among  the  Taconics  of  Richmond  and  Hancock,  and  is 
swollen  on  its  way  by  the  drainage,  through  a  canal,  of  Richmond 
Lake,  and  by  the  accession  of  several  minor  tributaries. 

Down  each  of  the  Taconic  gorges  rushes  a  mountain  brook, 
often  of  sufficient  power  to  run  a  saw-mill ;  but,  in  order  to  give 
an  intelligible  delineation  of  these,  it  will  be  necessary  to  interrupt 
our  tracing  of  the  streams,  that  we  may  first  fix  the  locations  of 
the  mountains,  valleys,  and  opes,  from  which  they  flow. 

Mount  Honwee  is  the  name  given,  on  the  authority  of  an  Indian 
lease  in  which  it  is  so  called,1  to  the  large  rounded  summit,  —  con- 
spicuous in  the  Pittsfield  view  of  the  Taconics,  —  which,  lying 
almost  entirely  in  Hancock,  juts  into  the  little  oblong  notch  in  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  town  boundaries.  The  word  Honwee  in 
the  Iroquois  tongue  signified  "  men,"  and,  as  here  used,  is  perhaps  a 
fragment  of  the  term  Ongiue  Honwe,  —  men  surpassing  all  others, 
—  a  title  which  the  Iroquois  arrogated  to  themselves,  and  may 
have  bestowed  upon  this  eminence  in  token,  that  as  the  mountain 
of  the  Iroquois  surpassed  the  neighboring  hills  in  magnitude  and 
symmetry,  —  in  compactness  as  well,  —  so  the  nation  excelled  others 

1  Williams  Papers. 


TOPOGRAPHY    OF   PITTSFIELD.  29 

in  the  same  qualities.  But,  whether  the  name  was  assigned  for  this 
or  some  other  reason,  it  would  be  in  vain  now  to  speculate. 
Writers  of  deeds  in  the  busy  times  of  Old-Hampshire  land  specu- 
lation were  wont-  to  mutilate  names  more  destructively  than  by 
the  clean  elision  of  one  half  a  cumbrous  compound. 

The  mountain  immediately  south  of  Honwee  was  christened  in 
this  quaint  wise :  it  was  a  part  of  the  lands  bequeathed  by  the 
founder  of  Williams  College ;  and  while,  during  the  proceedings 
necessary  to  a  legal  transfer  of  the  property,  the  title  of  the  trus- 
tees was  inchoate,  they  bargained  with  Capt.  John  Churchill  to 
convey  this  hill  to  him,  for  a  stipulated  consideration,  as  soon  as 
their  interest  in  it  was  perfected.  Capt.  Churchill,  in  his  turn, 
made  similar  agi'eements  with  his  neighbors  as  to  portions  of  the 
tract ;  and,  the  law's  delays  proving  more  tedious  than  had  been 
anticipated,  the  mountain  acquired,  among  the  impatient  expect- 
ants, the  name  of  "  The  Promised  Land;"  which  it  still  retains. 

Lulu  Ope  lies  between  Mount  Honwee  and  The  Promised  Land, 
and,  with  them,  forms  one  of  the  most  inviting  regions  in  Pittsfield 
for  the  lovers  of  pic-nic.  Having  climbed  to  the  western  summit  of 
The  Promised  Land,  the  excursionist  finds  himself  by  Berry  Pond, 
in  Hancock,  a  miniature  lakelet,  noted  for  the  purity  of  its  waters-, 
as  well  as  for  its  romantic  location  and  the  beauty  of  the  surround- 
ing landscape.  It  finds  its  outlet  westward  ;  but,  down  Lulu  Ope, 
pleasantly  shaded  wood-roads,  opening  at  intervals  upon  fine 
bird's-eye  views,  follow  on  either  side  the  course  of  a  streamlet, 
that  through  amber  pools  and  over  silvery  shallows,  with  musical 
noises,  tumbles  down  the  steep  descent,  until,  near  the  entrance  of 
the  ope,  it  plunges  over  a  sharp  and  rocky  shelf,  in  Lulu  Cascade, 
—  a  foam-white  column,  which  finds  its  base  in  a  circular  pool  of 
black  and  glossy  surface,  overhung  by  a  gray  old  bowlder  and  by 
masses  of  tangled  foliage. 

Issuing  from  the  ope,  the  waters  chary  of  their  maiden 
beauty,  too  suddenly  exposed  to  the  ardent  sunlight,  plunge 
down  a  narrow  chasm,  and  wholly  disappear  for  the  space  of  half 
a  mile  or  more,  while  they  rumble  among  the  loose  bowlders, 
through  which  they  have  wrought  a  passage  by  washing  away  the 
lighter  earth. 

Seven  of  the  brooks  which  flow  from  the  Taconic  Opes  assume 
a  subterranean  character  at  the  base  of  the  mountains ;  and  their 
courses  across  the  fields  towards  Lake  Onota  are  marked  by  lines 


30  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  coarse  bluish  gravel  and  small  bowlders,  resembling  the  beds  of 
summer-dried  rivulets. 

Next  south  of  The  Promised  Land  is  the  Ope  of  Promise ; 
which,  after  penetrating  a  little  way  into  the  mountain,  bends 
north-westward  to  the  summit,  and  affords  the  most  direct, 
although  an  arduous  path  to  Berry  Pond.  Then  come  Arbutus 
Hill  and  Ope,  so-called  from  the  profusion  of  that  "darling 
of  the  forest,"  the  sweet  flower  of  May,  with  which  they  are 
covered  in  the  spring,  when  their  woods  are  musical  with  the  hum 
of  young  voices  and  the  laughter  of  children.  Behind  and  over- 
topping them  lies  "  Old  Tower  Hill,"  named  from  its  observatory, 
which  commands  superb  views. 

Farther  to  the  south,  again,  we  come  to  Pine  Mountain,  famed 
for  the  forests  of  white-pine  trees  with  which  the  early  lumbermen 
found  it  covered,  and  of  which  they  have  left  considerable  relics 
to  their  successors.  Pine  Ope  intervenes  between  this  and  May 
Mountain,  across  whose  southern  base  the  New-Lebanon  highway 
runs,  through  Lilly  Ope.  These  latter  names  have  not  quite  so 
flowery  derivations  as  one  would  naturally  infer;  the  mountain 
having  been  christened  in  honor  of  one  of  its  proprietors,  and  the 
ope  for  withered  Mother  Lilly,  who  used  to  live  far  up  its  recesses, 
and  objurgate  the  mischievous  anglers  who  disturbed  her  ancient 
solitude.  But,  if  one  inclines  to  romanticism,  the  Widow  Lilly,  like 
most  widows  and  most  lilies,  "  had  once  been  fair." 

South  of.  the  Lebanon  Highway  and  Lilly  Ope,  swells  the  broad 
elevation  known  to  fox-hunters  as  Doll  Mountain, — derivation 
not  traced.  The  Shakers,  having  appropriated  a  portion  of  it  to 
their  hill-top  worship,  call  it  Mount  Zion ;  and  "The  World's 
People "  often  term  it  Shaker  Mountain  from  the  ownership  of 
that  peculiar  sect.  It  is  a  favorite  ground,  for  fox-hunters  and 
other  sportsmen,  and  also  for  hunters  of  the  precious  metals; 
gold  having  been  found  mixed  with  other  minerals  in  the  quartz 
veins  with  which  this,  like  most  of  the  Berkshire  hills,  is  seamed. 

Beyond  and  indenting  Doll  Mountain  are  several  opes,  in  which 
most  of  the  branches  of  the  Shaker  Brook  take  their  rise. 

To  resume  our  tracing  of  the  Taconic  brooks  :  the  Daniels  rises 
north  of  Mount  Honwee,  and,  after  receiving  the  Churchhill, 
flows  into  Lake  Onota.  The  same  reservoir  gets  the  waters  of 
Parker  Brook  —  which  rises  in  the  Ope  of  Promise,  and  is  joined 
by  the  Lulu  — and  also  of  the  Arbutus.  But  the  Wadham's, 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  31 

from  Pine  Ope,  unites  with  the  Lilly,  and  goes  to  swell  Shaker 
Brook. 

Of  the  tributaries  to  the  Housatonic  in  Pittsfield,  after  the 
confluence  of  its  branches,  the  most  considerable  is  Sackett  Brook, 
which  conies  in  from  Washington,  having  first  received  the  Ashley 
from  Lake  Ashley,  the  fountain  of  the  Pittsfield  water-works. 
The  Sackett,  once  a  renowned  trout-stream,  is  altogether  ex- 
hausted by  its  too  great  reputation.  The  Seeley  Brook  is  a  branch 
of  the  Sackett,  falling  into  it  near  its  junction  with  the  Housatonic ; 
just  below  which  the  latter  receives  the  Cameron,  the  last  to  be 
named  of  the  Pittsfield  streams ;  that  next  to  it  southward  being 
the  famous  Roaring  Brook  of  New  Lenox. 

The  principal  fish  inhabiting  the  waters  thus  described,  with 
perhaps  tedious  minuteness,  are  the  pickerel,  trout,  sucker,  perch, 
bullhead,  dace,  sunfish,  and  eel.  The  pickerel  are  not  native  to 
Berkshire,  but  were  introduced  from  Connecticut.  Linus  Parker, 
who  is  still  an  inhabitant  of  the  west  part,  placed  the  first  ever 
brought  to  Pittsfield  in  Lake  Onota  about  the  year  1810.  A  few 
already  swam  in  Lake  Mahecanak ; 1  and  Pontoosuc  received 
them  two  or  three  years  later.  Before  1829,  they  had  become 
abundant ;  and  they  have  since  multiplied  so  prolificacy  that  they 
not  only  afford  a  rich  spoil  for  the  angler,  but  contribute  no  mean 
addition  to  the  resources  of  the  table  in  an  economic  point  of 
view. 

Trout  were  formerly  extremely  abundant.  The  Housatonic 
was  alive  with  them.2  As  late  as  the  opening  years  of  the  present 
century,  an  hour's  angling  along  this  stream  within  half  a  mile 
of  South  Street  was  often  rewarded  by  as  many  of  this  dainty 
fish  as  the  sportsman  could  comfortably  bear  home.  The  stories 
told  of  Sackett  Brook,  although  substantiated  by  the  most 
reliable  testimony,  are  almost  incredible.  Within  thirty  years, 
we  are  assured,  the  numbers  of  its  trout  were  so  incalculable 
that  they  were  estimated  by  the  "  barrel-full ; "  and  one  veteran 
angler  thinks  he  has  seen  that  quantity  in  a  single  one  of  its 
pools.  Another  still  retains  the  profile  traced  with  his  pencil 

1  Stockbridge  Bowl. 

2  Statements  made  to  the  contrary  are  completely  overthrown  by  the  evidence 
of  gentlemen  like  James  Buell  and  John  C.  Parker,  Esqs.,  the  late  Messrs.  Samuel 
A.  Allen,  E.  R.  Colt,  and  others,  whose  means  of  knowledge  were  as  ample  as 
their  testimony  is  unimpeachable. 


32  TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

around  a  trout  caught  in  Onota  Brook,  which  weighed  when 
caught,  some  fifty  years  ago,  five  pounds  and  three-quarters ;  and, 
going  over  the  Waltouian  reminiscences  of  half  a  century,  recalls 
others  nearly  as  magnificent,  which  answered  to  his  rod  at  other 
points. 

The  voracious  and  fastidious  appetite  of  the  pickerel,  which  will 
be  content  with  nothing  less  delicate  than  a  troutling,  has  now 
rendered  the  still  waters  untenable,  except  by  those  which  find 
protection  in  their  size.  And  in  the  rapids,  where  superior 
activity  and  power  to  resist  the  current  give  the  trout  the  advan- 
tage of  their  more  sluggish  enemy,  the  refuse  of  the  factories  has 
driven  them  from  their  old  haunts.  But  even  these  destructive 
agencies  have  been  less  efficient,  than  excessive,  and  not  always 
legitimate,  fishing ;  the  laws  for  the  protection  of  trout  having 
been  violated  with  impunity.  Still  there  are  few  localities,  so 
thickly  settled,  where  this  favorite  of  the  sportsman  and  the 
epicure  is  so  abundant  as  in  the  mountain  brooks  near  Pittsfield ; 
while,  in  the  lakes  and  larger  streams,  specimens  weighing  from 
two  to  three  pounds  are  not  rare.  The  enlargement  of  the  lakes 
proves  very  favorable  to  the  increase  of  trout  and  pickerel,  both 
in  number  and  size. 

The  sucker,  highly  prized  at  certain  seasons,  is  at  others  worth- 
less for  the  table,  and,  being  thus  protected  by  nature's  game-laws, 
thrives  and  multiplies.  Others  of  the  fish  named  as  inhabitants 
of  the  Berkshire  waters  are  plentiful,  but  have  nothing  about 
them  locally  peculiar.1 

The  edible  tortoise,  common  in  the  lakes,  often  attains  the  weight 
of  twenty  pounds.  One  weighing  thirty-three  pounds  after  the 
loss  of  his  head  and  much  blood  was,  a  few  years  since,  caught 
in  Lake  Onota  with  a  hook  and  line  aided  by  a  hatchet.  It  fur- 
nished twenty  pounds  of  excellent  meat. 

We  have  lingered  to  trace  the  picturesque  and  curious  features 
of  the  lakes  and  streams  which  we  set  out  to  describe  as  sources 
of  the  material  prosperity  of  Pittsfield  (and  by  these  qualities 
they  do  contribute  in  no  light  measure  to  its  wealth  and  popula- 
tion) ;  but  let  us  return  to  a  more  economic  view. 

Shaker  Brook  has  a  fall  of  one  hundred  and  forty  eight  feet  from 
Richmond  Lake  to  the  dam  at  Oceola,  the  lowest  upon  it ;  Onota 

1  In  1865,  black  bass  and  white  fish  were  placed  in  Lakes  Onota  and  Pontoosuc, 
but  as  yet  without  perceptible  result. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  33 

Brook  descends  ninety-two  feet  from  the  lake  to  its  junction  with 
the  Housatonic;  the  fall  of  the  West  Branch  of  the  Housatonic 
from  Poutoosuc  Lake  to  Pomeroy's  Factories  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet :  the  comparison  in  each  case  being  between  the 
top  of  the  upper  dam  and  the  foot  of  the  lower. 

The  East  Branch  of  the  Housatonic  —  of  which  there  are  no 
complete  measurements  —  descends  about  forty  feet  between  its 
entrance  of  Pittsfield  at  Coltsville  and  its  departure  from  it  at  New 
Lenox. 

It  was  in  reference  to  the  streams  we  have  attempted  to  describe, 
that  Rev.  Thos.  Allen,  in  a  sketch  of  Berkshire  published  in  1810, 
foretold  that  Pittsfield,  then  mainly  devoted  to  agriculture,  would 
become  a  successful  manufacturing  town  :  although  there  was  not 

~  O 

so  much  prophetic  inspiration  in  this  forecast  as  might  appear  at 
first  sight ;  for  the  town  had  already  shown  no  little  enterprise  in 
that  direction,  having  maintained  several  forges  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  maleable  iron  from  the  ore  during  the  Revolution,  and  hav- 
ing been  early  noted  for  its  fulling-mills,  to  which  the  spinsters  of 
the  neighboring  towns  resorted  with  the  produce  of  their  looms. 
In  fact  also,  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Allen's  prophecy,  Arthur  Schofield 
was  about  to  set  up  in  Pittsfield  the  first  broad  looms  ever  used  in 
America;  being  already  engaged,  as  Mr.  Allen  expresses  it,  "in 
forming  machines  to  expedite  the  labor  of  spinning,"  —  making  the 
carding-machines,  to  wit,  which  preceded  the  looms  by  two  or 
three  years. 

There  was,  however,  in  the  minister's  prophecy,  —  what  was  much 
more  to  the  purpose  than  inspiration,  —  a  clear  foresight,  resulting 
from  native  acumen,  and  thorough  study  of  the  natural  advantages 
of  the  home  which  he  loved  with  all  the  strength  of  his  vigorous 
understanding  as  well  as  with  all  the  warmth  of  his  earnest  heart. 

His  anticipations  have  been  amply  realized;  and  the  streams  of 
Pittsfield  now  furnish  the  motive  power  for  eleven  woollen  manufac- 
tories, -one  large  paper-mill,  one  cotton-factory  manufacturing 
cloth  and  one  making  warps,  and  for  three  large  flouring-mills. 
In  addition  to  which,  extensive  manufactures  of  woollens,  carriages, 
leather,  looms,  manufacturers'  materials,  iron  machinery,  musical 
instruments,  and  other  articles,  are  carried  on  without  the  aid  of 
water-power. 

The  aggregate  extent  of  manufacturing  operations  in  Pittsfield 
may  be  inferred  from  the  following  statement:  — 


34 


TOPOGEAPHY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


STATISTICS   OF   THE   WOOLLEN   BUSINESS   OF   PITTSFIELD. 


'S 

Orf             * 

3 

*jj 

It 

MILLS  AXD  FIBMS. 

u 

11 

fl 

Kind  of  Goods. 

S  3 

•5  2 

z'f. 

z 

13 

$1 

n 

!=• 

55 

§ 

£ 

i_g 

&3 

J.  Barker  &  Bros  

16 

I  24  Broad 
f  60  Narrow 

650  000 

Yards  all  wool  and  cotton 
warp  cassimeres, 

$500  000 

230 

L.  Pomeroy's  Sons  .  .  . 

11 

j  49  Broad 
|  31  Narrow 

225  000 
200  000 

Woollen  cloth  and  satinets, 

750  000 

200 

Pontoosnc  W.  M.  Co.. 

10 

<  75  Broad 

130  000 
35  000 

Balmoral  skirts, 
yds.  Meltons  and  Skirtings, 

475  000 

200 

( 

5  000 

Carriage,  and  car  blankets, 

Pittsfield  W.  Co  

8 

40  Broad 

175  000 

Yds.  6-4  fancy  cassimeres, 

500  000 

130 

Taconic  Mills  

8 

80  Narrow  450  000 

|  fancy  cassimeres, 

450  000 

165 

Stearnsville  W.  Co..  .  . 

8 

60  Narrow  450  000 

J  Union  cassimeres, 

225  GUO 

130 

8.  N.  &.  C.  Russell  .  .  . 

6 

J  22  Broad 
/  22  Narrow 

250  000 

|  All  wool  cassimeres, 

250  000 

125 

Tillotson  &  Collins  

3 

10  Broad 

100  000 

J  Fancy  cassimeres, 

100  000 

40 

J  L  Peck  

3 

24  Narrow  350  000 

J  Flannels, 

105  000 

40 

E.  B.  "Whittlesey  

2 

11  Broad    !  100  000 

6-4  Meltons. 

100  000 

25 

Ashlar  Mills  

•2 

18  Broad 

30  000  [Balmoral  skirts, 

45  000 

23 

COTTON  MANUFACTORY. 

J.  L.  Peck,  3,392  spindles,  warp.    Annual  production,  $175,000.    Hands  employed,  75. 
M.  Van  Sickler,  100  looms,  manufacturing  cotton  cloth. 

Around  most  of  the  manufactories  named,  little  villages  have 
grown  up,  some  of  them  containing  several  hundred  inhabitants. 
That  known  as  Coltsville,  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the  town, 
has  a  station  of  the  North  Adams  Railroad,  a  hotel,  and  many  resi- 
dences of  persons  not  connected  with  the  paper-mill  of  Hon. 
Thomas  Colt,  from  which  it  derives  its  name.  Pontoosuc  is  a  con- 
siderable village  in  size,  and  is  of  marked  beauty.  Below  this, 
along  the  highway  between  Lanesborough  and  Pittsfield,  lie  Taconic 
and  Wahconah;  the  boarding-houses  of  the  Pittsfield  Woollen  Mill 
merging  in  the  latter,  which  extends  south  to  the  junction  of  Onota 
Brook  with  the  Housatonic. 

Between  the  mouth  of  Onota  Brook  and  Lake  Onota  lie,  in  the 
order  in  which  they  are  named,  Russell's,  Peck's,  and  Peck  and 
Kilbourn's  villages.  The  dwellings  connected  with  the  Pittsfield 

o  o 

Cotton  Factory  and  Pomeroy's  Woollen  Mills  form  respectively  the 
south-eastern  and  south-western  verges  of  the  central  village  of 
the  town. 

Upon  Shaker  Brook,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  west  of  Pome- 
roy's, is  Oceola.  Upon  the  same  stream,  in  the  south-west  corner 
of  the  town,  is  Barkersville ;  and,  about  half  a  mile  farther  north, 
Stearnsville,  —  both  flourishing  villages,  containing  not  only  the 
comfortable  dwellings  of  the  operatives,  but  the  handsome  resi- 
dences of  the  proprietors  of  the  mills.  In  Stearnsville  is  Emanuel 
Chapel,  an  outpost  of  St.  Stephen's  (P.  E.)  Church. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  PITTSFiELD.  35 

West  of  Stearnsville  lies  Shaker  Village,  or  West  Pittsfield, 
occupied  mostly  by  a  community  of  the  religious  sect  whose  name 
it  bears. 

Formerly,  in  some  of  the  affairs  of  the  town,  Pittsfield  was 
divided  —  as  it  often  still  is  colloquially  —  into  the  East  and  West 
Parts,  occasionally  into  the  East  and  West  Parts  and  the  Centre. 
In  ordinary  conversation,  the  boundaries  of  these  divisions  are  not 
very  exactly  defined ;  but  as  districts  in  the  old  time,  for  the  col- 
lection of  taxes  and  like  purposes,  if  two  only  were  made,  the 
separating  line  was  North  and  South  Streets;  if  three,  the  Central 
was  included  between  the  Forks  of  the  Housatonic.  The  North 
Woods  embraced  the  region  north-west  of  Lake  Quota ;  and,  al- 
though the  woods  have  long  since  disappeared,  the  name  is  still 
retained. 

The  Central  Village,  to  which  we  shall  refer  when  speaking 
simply  of  "  The  Village,"  covers  a  space  of  something  over  a  square 
mile,  lying  chiefly  between  the  two  branches  of  the  Housatonic, 
and  a  little  above  their  junction.1 

Within  these  bounds  are  comprised  nearly  all  the  public  and 
business  edifices  of  the  town,  with  the  exceptions  of  the  manufac- 
tories dependent  upon  water-power,  and  the  buildings  upon  the 
Agricultural  and  Berkshire-Pleasure  Parks.  Here,  too,  are  most 
of  the  private  dwellings,  other  than  those  attached  to  factories  or 
farms  and  a  few  costly  country-seats.  The  Village  is  noted  for  the 
beauty  of  the  views  which  it  commands,  for  the  broad  and  shaded 
avenues  which  branch  from  the  pretty  little  park  which  adorns  its 
centre,  for  its  excellent  educational  institutions,  and  for  some  fine 
public  and  private  edifices. 

The  Park,  —  hallowed  of  Pittsfield  tradition,  —  which  forms  the 
central  gem  of  the  village  cluster,  is  shaded  by  an  elliptical  grove 
of  handsome  elms,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood,  until  within  a 
few  years,  a  veteran  of  the  same  species,  which  was  spared  by  the 
settlers  from  their  sweeping  destruction  of  the  primeval  forest. 
It  early  became  the  pride  of  the  villager  and  the  admiration  of 
the  stranger.  Its  fame  went  abroad.  Every  year  added  to  the 
memories  which  had  been  clustering  around  it  since  the  Old 

1  This  thickly-peopled  section  is  specially  incorporated  as  "  The  Fire  Dis- 
trict ; "  having  first  been  established  for  the  support  of  a  fire-department,  but 
afterwards  empowered  to  build  and  control  water-works,  sewers,  sidewalks,  and  the 
like,  and  to  maintain  street-lights. 


36 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


French  and  Indian  Wars.  But,  in  1841,  the  lightning  scored  a 
ghastly  wound  down  its  tall,  straight  trunk,  and  began  to  dry 
up  its  life-blood.  Limbs  fell  away  from  it  from  time  to  time; 
and  the  thunderbolt  again  scathed  it.  But  still  the  little  vitality 
which  it  retained  was  carefully  cherished.  In  its  palmiest  days 
it  had  risen  a  smooth,  bare  shaft  of  ninety  feet,  bearing  for  capital 
a  leafy  coronal  of  branches  which  carried  its  height  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  feet.  In  its  days  of  blight,  when  a  few  green 
boughs  and  two  or  three  withered  and  shattered  limbs  alone  re- 
mained to  crown  it,  the  stranger  still  greeted  it  with  admiration, 
and  the  citizen  watched  it  with  reverent  love.  And  when,  in  July, 
1864,  it  was  found  to  be  bending  under  its  own  weight,  it  was 
gently  lowered  from  its  place,  literally  amid  the  tears  of  the 
sternest  men. 

In  the  Park,  the  waters  of  Lake  Ashley  leap  upward  in  a  foun- 
tain whose  spray  might  have  washed  the  topmost  leaves  of  the 


MAPLEWOOD   AVEXI  E. 


Old  Elm.     Regard  for  the  comfort  of  the  neighborhood,  however, 
dictates  ordinarily  a  more  modest  display  of  its  powers.1 

1  Pittsfickl  is  supplied  with  the  purest  water  in  great  abundance  from  Lake 
Ashley,  which  lies  upon  the  top  of  one  of  the  Hoosac  summits  in  Washington,  at 
a  distance  of  seven  miles  from  the  Park,  and  seven  hundred  feet  above  it.  The 
lake  is  fed  almost  exclusively  from  springs  in  its  own  bed.  The  water  descends 
about  four  miles  in  Ashley  Brook  to  a  reservoir  in  the  south-western  corner  of 
Dalton,  whence  it  is  carried  in  pipes  three  miles  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  rods, 
with  a  fall  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet,  to  the  fountain  in  the  Park.  It  is 
conveyed  to  all  parts  of  the  village,  the  length  of  main  and  distributing  pipe  being 
about  fifteen  miles. 


TOPOGEAPHY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  37 

The  streets  which  branch  from  this  centre  are  shaded  in  great 
part  by  fine  elms  and  lindens ;  but  an  unfortunate  partiality  for 
rapid  growth  and  luxuriant  folinge  has  given  a  preponderance  to  the 
maples,  long  ago  characterized  by  observant  Spencer  as  "  seeldom 
inward  sound."  Arbor-like  streets,  spacious  court-yards  over- 
spread by  patriarchal  trees,  and  park-like  grounds,  almost  em- 
bower a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  village. 

Of  the  latter,  the  most  admired  are  those  of  Maplewood  Young 
Ladies'  Institute,  whose  graceful  chapel,  gymnasium,  and  half- 


vine-covered  dwellings  gleam  white  through   avenues  and  groves 
of  famed  attractiveness. 

An  ample  park,  the  seat  of  a  school  of  a  high  grade  for  young 
men,  occupies,  with  a  profusion  of  arborage  which  almost  rivals 
Maplewood,  the  southern  declivity  of  a  commanding  eminence 
north  of  the  village,  which  has  received  the  name  of  Springside, 
from  the  abundant  springs,  whose  waters  have  been  turned  to 
excellent  purpose  in  adorning  the  grounds.  The  overview  from 
Springside  stretches  across  the  lower  Berkshire  Valley  to  the 
Connecticut  hills ;  glimpses  of  which,  at  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  are  seen  through  the  vista  formed  by  the  grander  mountains 
which  intervene. 


38  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Of  the  ten  village  churches,  three  are  devoted  to  the  Con- 
gregational form  of  worship ;  one  of  them  being  occupied  by  a 
colored  parish.  Two  belong  to  St.  Joseph's  Roman  Catholic 
parish;  the  sermons  in  one  of  them  being  alternately  in  the  German 
and  French  languages.  The  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Epis- 
copalians have  one  each;  and  one  belongs  to  the  German 
Lutherans,  who  form  a  considerable  element  in  the  population 
of  Pittsfield,  and  have  service  in  their  own  tongue. 

In  1867-8,  The  Berkshire  Life  Insurance  Company  erected 
a  large  and  costly  building,  one  of  the  most  perfect  business 
structures  in  the  country,  upon  the  corner  of  North  and  West 
streets,  long  known  as  the  site  of  the  "  Old  Berkshire  Hotel."  In 
it  is  the  central  office  of  the  proprietory  corporation  whose  busi- 
ness ramifies  into  every  portion  of  the  northern  section  of  the  con- 
tinent. It  also  affords  spacious  rooms  for  the  post-office,  luxurious 
banking-houses  for  the  Pittsfield  and  Agricultural  National  Banks 
and  the  Berkshire  County  Savings  Institution ;  halls  for  several 
Masonic  bodies ;  the  office  of  the  Assessor  of  Internal  Revenue  for 
the  Tenth  Massachusetts  District ;  many  other  offices,  and  several 
stores. 

By  law,  the  various  railroads  which  intersect  at  Pittsfield  are  re- 
quired to  unite,  previous  to  the  year  1869,  in  a  common  passenger 
station :  and  a  location  has  been  selected  for  that  purpose  upon 
West  street,  about  eighty  rods  west  of  the  Park ;  and  upon  that 
site  large  and  handsome  buildings  are  about  to  be  erected. 

The  Legislature  of  1868  made  Pittsfield  the  shire  town  of 
Berkshire  County,  requiring  the  town  to  furnish  sites  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  court-house  and  jail.  For  the  former  building,  the 
beautiful  elm-shaded  grounds  on  East  Street,  between  Park  Square 
and  Williams  Avenue,  have  been  purchased  at  the  price  of  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollars ;  for  the  latter,  ten  acres  of  land  are  pro- 
vided on  North  First  Street,  at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars. 
The  buildings  will  be  commenced  while  this  work  is  in  press. 

By  the  highway,  the  distance  of  Pittsfield  from  Boston  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  ;  from  Albany,  thirty-three.  The  wind- 
ings of  the  railroad  increase  these  distances  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  from  the  former  city,  and  to  fifty  from  the  latter ;  requiring, 
respectively,  six  and  two  hours  for  the  journey.  New  York  is 
reached  in  about  six  hours. 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  39 

Pittsfield  has  now  a  population  of  about  eleven  thousand,  and  is 
rated  in  the  assessment  of  1868  at  a  valuation  of  $3,473,061  in 
personal  estate ;  $4,693,173,  in  real  estate :  a  total  valuation  of 
$8,166,234.  The  number  of  polls  returned  was  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety-three ;  the  number  of  dwellings,  fifteen  hun- 
dred and  four. 


HISTORY. 


6 
Must  not  be  Loaned 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ABORIGINAL     OCCUPATION. 

The  Natives  as  found  by  the  Pioneers.  —  Relics.  —  Villages  and  Burial  Grounds  in 
Pittsfield.  —  Scantiness  of  Native  Population  to  be  accounted  for.  —  Mohegan 
Traditional  History.  —  Wars  of  the  Mohegans  and  Iroquois.  —  Changes  in  the 
Condition  of  the  Mohegans  of  Berkshire. —  Hunting-System  of  the  Mohegans. — 
Berkshire  a  Hunting-Ground.  —  The  Pan  of  the  Settlers  of  Pittsfield  in  various 
Indian  Wars.  —  Remarkable  Incidents. 

WHEN,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
English  of  Massachusetts  first  became  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  mountainous  district  of  its  Far  West,  they  found 
it  teeming  with  the  various  species  of  game  and  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals then  common  in  New  England ;  which  attracted  occasional 
hunting-parties  of  the  Mohegans  and  Schaghticokes,  who,  by  ten- 
ures which  will  presently  appear,  held  a  sort  of  confused  joint 
occupancy  of  the  hunting-grounds. 

The  permanent  native  inhabitants  were,  however,  sparse,  even 
beyond  the  ordinary  meagreness  of  Indian  populations.  The  petty 
villages  of  a  few  insignificant  squads,  mostly  of  the  Mohegan 
race,  scattered  at  wide  intervals,  alone  broke  the  solitude  of  the 
mountain  wilderness.  And  of  these  little  huddles  of  savage  wig- 
wams, too  highly  dignified  by  the  title  of  village,  one  lay 
between  Sheffield  and  Great  Harrington ;  and  the  smoke  of  others 
curled  up  among  the  woods  where  Pittsfield,  Stockbridge,  New 
Marlborougb,  Dalton,  and  perhaps  other  towns,  now  stand. 

The  sites  of  those  in  Pittsfield  are  vaguely  pointed  out  by  tradi- 
tion, with  a  somewhat  less  vague  confirmation  by  the  discovery 

43 


44  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  relics,  as  at  Unkamct's  pressing  around  the  Canoe  Meadows, 
and  upon  Indian  Hill  (the  emiifenC  immediately  west  of  the  Gov- 
ernor Briggs  Homestead,  and  a  little  south-east  of  Lake  Onota).  It 
is  altogether  probable,  however,  that,  in  accordance  with  the  uni- 
versal practice  of  the  aborigines,  their  lodges  were  removed  from 
point  to  point,  or,  rather,  that  the  costless  things  were  aban- 
doned for  new,  as  often  as  convenience  dictated,  or  a  chance  fire 
in  the  woods  at  once  cleared  and  enriched  new  fields  for  their  lazy 
husbandry. 

Tradition  speaks  confidently  of  household  implements  of  stone 
found  abundantly  in  the  olden  time,  especially  near  the  Canoe 
Meadows,  whose  rich  soil  and  neighboring  river  made  them  attrac- 
tive ;  but  such  discoveries  are  rare  now,  although,  in  some  fields, 
arrow-heads  are  not  unfrequently  found,  — 

"  The  pointed  flints  that  left  his  fatal  bow, 
Chipped  with  rough  art  and  slow  barbarian  toil, 
Last  of  his  wrecks  that  strew  the  alien  soil."  —  HOLMES. 

It  was  for  the  chase  or  on  the  war-path,  that  the  savage  oftenest 
sought  the  wilds  of  the  Winterberge.  But  the  few  memorials 
which  he  left  of  his  presence  on  the  soil  of  Pittsfield  must  be  the 
more  carefully  recorded  for  their  rarity. 

On  Indian  Hill,  in  1815,  Capt.  Joseph  Merrick  turned  up  with 
his  plough  a  Jewish  frontlet,  which,  being  opened,  displayed  the 
usual  sentences  of  Hebrew  scripture,  beautifully  inscribed  upon 
parchment,  which  had  been  kept  in  perfect  preservation  by 
leathern  casings.  The  theory  that  the  American  Indians  are  the 
descendants  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel  had  then  many  ardent 
supporters,  who,  of  course,  hailed  Capt.  Merrick's  waif  as  confir- 
mation of  their  faith,  in  a  double  sense  "  strong  as  Holy  Writ." 
Deposited  with  the  Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester,  it  was 
learnedly  discussed ;  and  we  still  find  it  occasionally  mentioned  in 
books.1 

1  Memoir  of  Elkanah  Watson,  Hist.  Stock.,  etc.  Other  like  discoveries  have 
since  occurred.  Dr.  Lykin  obtained  the  loan  of  a  similar  amulet  which  is  still 
held  in  great  repute  by  the  Potawatamies  of  Kansas  Eiver ;  and  the  writer  has 
seen  one  which  was  found  about  twenty-five  years  ago  among  the  Penobscot  (Tar- 
atine)  tribe  in  Maine.  One  cannot  account  with  perfect  confidence  for  the 
dispersion  of  these  sacred  mementoes  so  widely  among  a  people  ignorant  of  their 
significance ;  but  it  is  less  difficult  to  assume  a  Hebrew  shipwreck,  than  to  inject 
the  blood  of  Israel  into  Algonquin  veins.  The  aboriginal  superstition  of  ascribing 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  45 

In  1850,  a  deep  cutting  was  made  in  a  peat-bed  a  few  rods  north- 
east of  Indian  Hill ;  and  a  number  of  poles,  sharpened  by  the  aid  of 
fire,  as  if  for  the  constvucfcion  of  wigwams,  were  found  so  far  be- 
neath the  surface  that  they,  must  have  been  deposited  there  long 
before  Jacob  Elkins's  bold  explorers  could  have  penetrated  the 
valley. 

Indian  Point  is  the  name  —  handed  down  from  the  old  time  — 
of  a  projection  into  Lake  Onota  upon  the  west,  where  the  red  hun- 
ter delighted  to  lie  perdue  behind  the  singular  rocky  screen  de- 
scribed in  a  previous  chapter,  and  shoot  the  deer  who  took  refuge 
in  the  delicious  waters  from  the  torments  of  the  summer-heat  and 
the  swarming  mosquitoes.  And,  doubtless,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
erring  marksmen  left  an  armory  of  flint  arrow-heads  on  the  grav- 
elly bed  of  the  lake. 

Along  the  Housatonic,  east  of  the  former  residence  of  Dr.  O.  "W. 
Holmes,  stretch  what  the  early  settlers  always  called  the  Canoe 
Meadows;  and  from  their  level  surface,  upon  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  river,  rises  a  knoll  which  was  once  used  as  a  burial-place 
by  the  Mohegans,  who,  after  they  were  collected  in  one  community 
at  Stockbridge,  were  accustomed  to  make  pious  pilgrimages  to  this 
spot,  leaving  the  birch-canoes,  in  which  they  had  ascended  the 
river,  in  the  Meadows  to  which  they  thus  gave  name.1 

Lake  Shoonkeekmooukeek,  with  its  prolific  waters,  must  have 
been  a  frequent  resort  for  the  guiders  of  the  birch-canoe ;  and  by 
its  shores  they  buried  their  dead.  Some  of  their  skeletons  were,  a 
few  years  ago,  exhumed  from  the  eastern  bank  of  its  outlet,  where 
they  had  been  interred  in  the  usual  sitting  posture. 

The  graves  of  the  vanished  race  of  which  so  many  wild  tales 
were  told,  of  whom  so  many  wild  deeds  were  personally  remem- 
bered, always  had  a  strange  fascination  for  the  pioneers ;  and  those 
of  Pittsfield  pointed  out  several  in  different  parts  of  the  town  to 
their  children.  But  these  were  wayside  resting-places,  to  which 
their  tenants  seem  to  have  been  consigned  without  that  reverential 


the  power  of  a  "  medicine,"  or  charm,  to  whatever  in  civilized  use  was  incomprehen- 
sible 1  iy  savage  simplicity,  is  well-known ;  and  surely  nothing  would  more  probably 
acquire  this  mystic  character  than  the  curious  frontlets  which  perchance  some 
shipwrecked  children  of  Abraham,  miraculously  preserved  from  the  waves,  may 
have  been,  by  the  wondering  natives,  observed  to  hold  in  religious  veneration. 

1  Mr.  William  G.  Backus,  who,  when  a  boy,  assisted  in  clearing  this  burial- 
knoll  fur  cultivation,  states  that  the  graves  could  then  be  distinctly  traced. 


46  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

care  which  the  men  of  the  woods  were  wont  to  bestow  upon  their 
dead. 

Such  are  the  scant  memorials  by  which  we  are  able  to  trace  the 
aboriginal  occupation  of  the  soil  of  Pittsfield  before  its  history  as 
the  home  of  civilized  man  commenced.  But  slender  as  these  me- 
morials are,  and  slight  as  may  have  been  the  red  man's  attachment 
to  the  spot  as  a  permanent  home,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
was  his  choicest  hunting-ground.  That  he  has  left  recorded  in  the 
name  he  bestowed  upon  it ;  and,  although  another  appellation  has 
usurped  the  place  of  that  which  the  Mohegan  so  significantly  gave 
it,  we  still  love  to  remember  that  this  was  the  Indian's  abundant 
Poontoosuck,  his  favorite  chase  for  deer.  The  names  the  red  men 
called  them  by  still  cling  to  mountain,  lake,  and  stream,  forbidding 
us  to  forget  the  race,  which,  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago, 
imparted  to  this  glorious  landscape  all  of  human  interest  that  per- 
tained to  it.  He  must  be  dull  of  sentiment  indeed,  who  does  not 
feel  that  without  the  old  Indian  story,  dim  though  it  may  be,  the 
region  of  the  Taconics  and  the  Hoosacs,  of  Poontoosuck  and  the 
Housatonic,  of  Unkamet  and  Honwee,  would  lack  a  charm  we 
should  not  willingly  spare. 

But  aside  from  what  may  be  considered  mere  sentimental  inter- 
est, —  although  that,  too,  has  its  intrinsic  worth,  —  a  question  of 
more  material  importance  arises,  and  finds  its  answer  in  a  consecu- 
tive, although  not  very  minute,  history  of  the  Mohegan  nation. 
The  paucity  of  the  native  population  found  in  Berkshire  demands 
an  explanation,  and  did,  in  fact,  early  attract  the  attention  of  the 
local  historians,  who,  although  in  some  respects  favored,  labored 
under  great  difficulties  from  the  want  of  those  archives  to  which 
later  writers  have  access. 

The-  native  traditions  declared,  and  with  entire  truth,  that  for- 
merly a  thousand  warriors  had  answered  to  the  Mohegan  battle- 
cry,  and  distant  tribes  had  sought  and  received  the  protection  of 
their  arms ;  but  the  first  European  explorers  of  their  country,  or 
certainly  the  first  English  surveyors,  found  but  a  few  scant  hun- 
dreds —  men,  women,  and  children  included  —  remaining  to  tenant 
all  the  ancient  empire  of  the  tribe.  And  a  patriotic  shame  forbade 
the  native  chroniclers  to  relate  to  the  stranger  the  unvarnished 
story  of  their  humiliation. 

Those  among  the  early  settlers  who  interested  themselves  in 
such  questions, — thus  left  to  their  own  resources,  if  not  actually 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  47 

misled,  —  in  accounting  for  the  decadence  of  the  population  which 
preceded  them,  adopted  a  theory  utterly  untenable.  They  fancied, 
that,  when  the  remnants  of  the  Pequots  and  Narragansetts,  spared 
from  fire  and  sword,  were  driven  out  of  New  England,  the  terror- 
stricken  fugitives,  passing  through  Western  Massachusetts,  so 
spread  the  fear  of  the  white  man's  prowess  and  cruelty  that  the 
mass  of  the  people  joined  in  the  flight  to  safer  regions  in  the  West. 

By  a  strange  negligence,  the  fact  was  overlooked,  that  the 
territory  in  question  was  inhabited  by  Mohegans,  the  inveterate 
enemies  of  both  Pequots  and  Narragansetts,  between  whom  and 
the  New-Englanders  they  had  been  the  chief  instruments  in  stir- 
ing  up  strife.  At  the  very  moment  when  they  are  represented  as 
joining  the  exiles  in  panic  flight,  they  were  pursuing  them  with 
a  vindictiveness  which  their  white  allies  were,  for  the  sake  of 
humanity,  obliged  to  temper.  It  will  be  recollected  that  when, 
in  1676,  the  renowned  Major  Talcot  overtook  a  fugitive  band 
of  two  hundred  wretched  Narragansetts  at  Stockbridge,  and  visited 
them  with  great  slaughter,  he  was  guided  in  the  pursuit  by  a 
Mohegan,  and  that  the  only  man  he  lost  in  the  affair  was  of 
the  same  race.  It  was  with  good  reason  that  the  Mohegans 
loved,  and  were  faithful  to,  the  white  man ;  for  by  him  they 
had  been  preserved  from  utter  extermination,  and,  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Connecticut  at  least,  restored  to  something  of  their  old 
prestige  as  warriors.  The  sheep  might  as  well  have  herded  with 
the  wolves  flying  from  the  shepherd,  as  the  Mohegans  have  joined 
the  Pequots  and  Narragapsetts  escaping  from  the  New-Englanders. 

So  far  from  dwindling  in  these  old  wars,  the  population  of  Mohe- 
ganland  must  have  been  swelled  by  the  captives  who,  in  accordance 
with  their  custom,  were  adopted  into  the  victorious  tribe;  and, 
owing  to  the  humane  influence  of  the  colonial  officers,  the  number 
thus  saved  from  death  was  greater  than  in  most  Indian  wars.  It 
does  not,  however,  appear  that  the  villages  west  of  the  Hoosacs 
received  immediately  much  augmentation  from  this  source.  But 
the  Iroquois,  who  had  become  the  feudal  lords  of  the  old  Mohegan 
empire,  granted  a  refuge,  in  what  is  now  the  northern  part  of 
Reusselaer  county,  to  a  band  of  exiled  Narragansetts,  which  grew  to 
be  the  Schaghticoke  tribe,  and  sent  out  little  colonies  to  the  Valley 
of  the  Housatonic.1 

1  The  principal  Indian  village  in  Sheffield  was  styled  Scatecook ;  and  the 
presence  of  individuals  of  that  race  in  the  county  was  the  cause  of  the  only  blood- 


48  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

These  accessions  to  the  native  population  were,  to  be  sure,  not 
large ;  but  they  serve  to  strengthen  our  conception  of  the  extreme 
desolation  which  must  have  prevailed  anterior  to  them ;  and,  even 
if  they  were  altogether  inconsiderable,  the  fact  would  still  be 
plain,  that  such  desolation  was  not  the  result  of  the  New-England 
wars. 

The  error  in  solving  the  problem  arose  from  the  mistake  of 
seeking  the  key  —  if,  indeed,  it  was  sought  in  any  documentary 
evidence  — among  the  records  of  Massachusetts ;  while  the  Mohe- 
gans  were,  especially  at  the  period  of  their  decadence,  essentially  a 
New-York  tribe. 

Turning  to  the  historical  collections  of  the  latter  State,  we  find 
that  destruction  came  to  the  aborigines  of  Berkshire  from  the 
west,  and  not  from  the  east,  —  from  the  red  man,  and  not  from  the 
white :  in  what  manner,  we  shall  endeavor  to  show. 

The  Mohegan  —  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  the  history  of  the 
Algonquin  races  —  was,  like  the  others,  divided  into  tribes  or 
nations,  bearing  distinctive  names ;  which,  again,  were  sub- 
divided into  bands,  — a  political  organization  into  whose  constitu- 
tion we  do  not  purpose  to  inquire.  The  great  tribe  to  which 
the  appellation  of  Mohegan  is  commonly  applied,  and  who  may 
hence  be  held  to  represent  the  parent  stock,  occupied  in  1609, 
when  they  were  first  visited  by  the  Dutch  under  Ilendrick 
Hudson,  the  whole  territory  DOW  the  counties  of  Berkshire, 
Columbia,  and  Rensselaer;  having  their  chief  village,  or  "  castle," 
at  Schodac  (more  musically  pronounced  by  themselves  Eskwatak, 

—  the  place   of  fires;   i.e.,  council-fires),  on    the   Hudson.     And 
they  had  also,  at  what  is  now  Greenbush,  a  strongly  fortified  post 

—  according  to  their  notions  of  engineering  —  against  their  hered- 
itary enemies,  the  Mohawks,  whose  territory  came  down  to  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  Hudson. 

The  name  by  which  they  called  themselves,  as  nearly  as  English 
type  can  represent  its  multitudinous  syllables,  was  Mo-he-ka- 
ncew, —  in  the  plural,  Mo-he-ka-neok  ;  signifiying  "  the  people  of 
the  great  waters  which  are  continually  in  motion,"  —  that  is,  which 
ebb  and  flow.  This  unwieldy  patronymic  was  mellowed  by  the 
Dutch  to  Mahican,  as  it  is  written  in  the  early  Pittsfield  deeds ; 

shed  between  the  colonists  and  the  children  of  the  soil  which  ever  occurred  among 
its  hills. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  49 

by  the  English  to  Mohican  ;  and,  finally,  has  passed  into  poetry 
and  history  as  the  sonorous  Mohegan.  The  national  tradition  is, 
that  the  progenitors  of  the  race  on  this  continent,  having  crossed 
the  great  waters  at  a  point  in  the  North-west  where  the  opposite 
coasts  approach  very  near  to  each  other,  were  compelled  by 
famine  to  disperse  through  the  wilderness,  and  thus  lost  what- 
ever of  civilized  arts  and  manners  they  had  previously  possessed, — 
"apostatized,"  as  their  Christianized  chronicler  expresses  it.1 

Pursuing  their  way  to  the  south-east, —  still  driven  by  hunger, 
or  impelled  by  that  centrifugal  restlessness  which  urged  the  na- 
tions away  from  their  cradle,  —  they  crossed  many  great  waters, 
but  none  which  ebbed  and  flowed  like  Mohekunnuk,  "  the  river 
of  their  nativity,"  until  they  reached  the  Hudson.  Pleased  with 
the  resemblance  of  that  noble  stream,  in  this  respect,  to  that  which 
ebbed  and  flowed  in  their  Asian  home,  they  called  it  Mahican- 
ittuck  ;  anticipating  a  bad  American  practice  by  reduplicating,  in 
the  land  of  their  adoption,  the  name  which  had  been  dear  in  the 
land  of  their  birth. 

Finding,  in  addition  to  the  charm  of  association,  that  the  shores 
of  the  great  river  abounded  in  game,  and  its  waters  with  fish, 
while  the  soil  and  climate  favored  their  easy-going  agriculture, 
the  way-worn  and  hungry  people  determined  here  to  fix  their 
permanent  habitation. 

Flourishing  in  this  new  home,  the  Mohegans  ran  the  usual 
career  of  successful  Indian  nationalities.  Carrying  carnage  and 
desolation  among  neighbors  as  savage  as  themselves,  they  de- 
stroyed some  weaker  tribes,  protected  and  affiliated  others.  The 
terror  of  their  name  spread  far  to  the  east  and  west ;  and  prob- 
ably it  was  at  this  era  that  one  of  their  tribes  penetrated  into 
south-eastern  Connecticut,  and,  there  establishing  themselves, 
achieved  among  the  natives  of  that  region  the  proud  title  of 
Pequots,  —  the  destroyers. 

On  their  western  border,  the  Mohegans  reduced  the  six  nations 
—  not  yet  confederate  —  to  the  utmost  straits.  They  even 
threatened  that  afterwards-powerful  empire  —  or,  rather,  most  of 
its  then  independent  parts  —  with  total  extinction.  But  at  that 
unknown  epoch  when  the  wonderful  league  was  formed  which 
constituted  the  Iroquois  in  war  one  people,  —  one  ambitious, 
revengeful,  and  irresistible  nation,  —  the  fortunes  of  the  Mohegans 

1  Hendrick  Aupaumut  in  Hist.  Stockbridge. 


50  HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD. 

began  to  wane ;  and  they  were  soon  glad  to  accept  the  alliance,  for 
mutual  defence,  of  the  Wappingers,  and  other  river-tribes,  with 
whom,  up  to  that  time,  they  had  been  at  continual  war.  But  the 
combined  forces  of  the  eastern  shore  proved  too  weak  to  withstand 
the  enemy,  to  whom  a  wise  union  had  suddenly  given  the  almost 
undisputed  empire  of  the  forest.  The  allies  were  defeated  by  the 
Iroquois,  in  a  decisive  battle  fought  near  Rhinebeck  on  the 
Hudson,  at  a  date  so  recent  that  the  first  Dutch  farmers  found  their 
fields  still  strewn  with  the  bones  of  the  slain. 

The  defeated  party  was  reduced  to  vassalage,  which,  although 
not  of  so  degrading  a  character  as  that  imposed  on  the  unfortunate 
Leni  Lenape,  —  who  descended  from  the  rank  of  warriors  to  the 
political  condition  of  squaws,  —  must  have  been  sufficiently 
galling ;  especially  in  cases  like  that  of  the  treaty  of  Tawesentha, 
when  the  belt  of  friendship,  held  at  one  end  by  the  Dutch  and  at 
the  other  by  the  Iroquois,  rested  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Mohe- 
gans  and  of  "the  nation  of  women,"  in  token  of  their  common 
subjugation. 

Fretting  under  the  yoke,  the  conquered  but  still  high-spirited 
race  soon  rebelled;  and  in  1625  we  find  them  again  in  arms 
against  their  ancient  enemy.  The  attempt  to  regain  their  inde- 
pendence on  their  own  soil  miserably  failed.  The  uprising  was 
suppressed;  and,  after  a  merciless  war  of  three  years'  duration,  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Mohegans  were  either  killed  or  captured, 
and  the  remainder  were  driven  into  the  Valley  of  the  Connecticut. 
Here  they  were  hospitably  received  by  their  kinsmen  of  the 
previous  migration, —  the  Pequots.  But  difficulty  soon  arose  from 
the  ambition  of  Uncas.  A  separation  ensued,  and  then  those 
intrigues  at  Boston  and  Hartford  which  brought  destruction  upon 
the  Pequot  branch. 

If,  as  has  been  said,  there  was  any  feudal  subjection  of  the 
Mohegans  in  the  Connecticut  Valley  to  the  Iroquois,  it  must  have 
been  an  uneasy  and  often  interrupted  relation  ;  for  Arnold  Mon- 
tague, who  wrote  of  the  last  days  of  the  Dutch  dominion  on  the 
Hudson,  and  published  his  account  in  1671,  reports  the  Mohawks 
as  constantly  at  war  with  the  Mohegans,  which  latter  also  main- 
tained "  a  constant  animosity  against  the  Dutch." 

At  last,  in  1664,  as  the  English  fleet  was  approaching  to  convert 
the  New  Netherlands  into  New  York,  the  Mohegans  were  embold- 
ened, perhaps  instigated,  to  harry  the  Province  upon  its  opposite 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  51 

frontier ;  and  thus  the  old  fire  again  broke  forth.  The  Mohegans 
attacked  the  Mohawks,  destroyed  cattle  at  Greenbush,  fired  a 
barn  at  Claverack,  and  ravaged  that  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson 
which  had  been  the  home  of  their  fathers.  But,  on  the  8th  of  the 
following  September,  —  this  devastation  having  occurred  in  July, 
—  the  Dutch  governor  surrendered  Fort  Amsterdam,  and  the  New 
Netherlands  ceased  to  be.  Thenceforward  the  governments  of 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  subject  to  the  same  crown,  sti'ove 
to  stanch  the  feuds  which  prevailed  between  the  tribes  within 
their  borders;  so  that  the  Mohawk  and  the  Mohegan  did  not 
again  meet  in  battle  until  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  when  the 
former  adhered  to  the  king,  and  the  latter  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  people. 

After  the  forced  exodus  of  the  great  body  of  the  Mohegans,  in 
1628,  their  ancient  hunting-grounds  upon  the  hills  seem  to  have 
been  occupied  by  the  few  who  were  released  from  captivity,  or  who 
crept  back  from  exile  and  hiding ;  and,  after  such  fierce  conflicts 
and  such  general  expatriation,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  so  few,  but 
that  any  remained.  The  components  and  form  of  Indian  commu- 
nities are,  however,  proverbially  fluctuating  as  the  sand-hills  of  the 
desert;  and,  in  -the  disturbance  produced  by  colonial  agencies, 
sources  were  found  from  which,  in  some  small  degree,  to  replenish 
dispeopled  Moheganland.  Along  the  river-shore  at  Claverack, 
Kinderhook,  and  Greenbush,  the  Dutch  began  to  spread  their 
settlements,  and  press  the  natives  to  the  hills.  On  the  north,  the 
Schaghticokes  prospered,  and  threw  out  their  branches  along  the 
Housatonic.  Straggling  Horikans,  perhaps,  wandered  down  from 
the  Upper  Winterberge.  Meanwhile,  the  relations  between  the 
Iroquois  and  their  Mohegan  feudatories  became  more  intimate 
and  genial,  —  doubtless  through  the  kind  offices  of  the  Oneidas,  who, 
before  their  incorporation  into  the  Six  Nations,  had  incurred  a  debt 
of  gratitude  to  the  then-powerful  Mohegans,  which  they  seem  now 
faithfully  to  have  discharged.  "  The  Mohawks,  Onondagas,  Cayu- 
gas,  and  Senecas  are  our  uncles,"  said  the  Stockbridge  chroniclers; 
"but  the  Oneidas  and  Tuscaroras  are  our  brothers." 

Still  the  statement  of  the  exceeding  meagreness  with  which  the 
Indians  peopled  "\Yestern  Massachusetts  needs  no  qualification ;  and 
what  inhabitants  there  were,  were  mostly  Mohegan.  Even  when 
an  attempt  was  made,  about  1750,  to  introduce  Mohawks  into  the 
mission  settlement  at  Stockbridge,  the  effort  met  with  no  success, 


52  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

notwithstanding  the  strenuous  exertions  of  the  commissioners, 
sustained  by  lavish  appropriations  of  money  by  the  General  Court. 

We  have  few  data  upon  which  to  found  an  estimate  of  the 
number  of  natives  who,  before  its  settlement,  occupied  the  ter- 
ritory now  known  as  Berkshire.  When  the  mission  was  estab- 
lished at  Stockbridge,  an  effort  was  made  to  gather  all  of  the 
nation  into  one  community  in  that  town;  and,  in  1736,  ninety 
had  thus  been  collected.  One  hundred  and  twenty  were  reported 
in  1740;  and,  by  1747,  these  had  increased  to -two  hundred.  In 
1785,  when  they  were  about  to  remove  to  the  Oneida  country,  the 
community  had  grown  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and  twenty 
souls.  But  of  these,  a  majority  had  come  from  beyond  the  Hoosacs 
upon  one  side,  and  the  Taconics  on  the  other. 

There  is,  indeed,  no  reason  to  believe,  that,  even  in  the  palmiest 
days  of  Mohegan  empire,  any  considerable  number  of  the  tribe 
ever  dwelt  permanently  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  their 
country.  Indeed,  we  have  positive  evidence  to  the  contraiy  in  an 
account  written  by  Capt.  Hendrick  Aupaumut,  one  of  their  later 
chroniclers,  and  preserved  by  President  Dwight.  As  the  customs 
of  the  nation  are  described  in  this  paper,  the  business  of  the  chase 
was  pursued  with  system.  The  sanop,  to  be  sure,  might  replenish 
his  larder  from  the  neighboring  woods,  whenever  appetite  or 
opportunity  suggested.  But  the  red  deer  did  not,  as  an  ordinary 
morning  occurrence,  bound  by  the  Indian  village,  and  receive  an 
invitation  in  the  guise  of  a  flint  arrow-head  to  the  wigwam  dinner. 
The  year  was,  therefore,  divided  into  two  great  hunting-seasons, 
—  one  in  the  fall,  when  they  hunted  the  deer,  bear,  beaver,  otter, 
raccoon,  fisher,  and  martin,  for  winter  clothing,  and  drying-meat; 
the  other  in  the  spring,  when  they  chased  the  moose  upon  the  Green 
Mountains,  —  the  Taconics  and  Hoosacs.  The  latter  season  com- 
menced about  the  first  of  March,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  supple- 
mentary trapping  of  otter,  beaver,  and  other  amphibious  animals, 
as  soon  as  the  ice  broke  up  in  the  streams  and  lakes.  Good  care 
was,  however,  taken  that  the  stay  among  the  mountains  should 
not  exceed  two  months. 

The  conclusion  which  we  reach,  then,  is,  that  the  few  Mohegans 
who  kept  their  lodges  permanently  at  Poontoosuck  lived  amid  an 
abundance  of  game,  which,  throughout  the  year,  they  shared  with 
such  hunting-parties  of  their  countrymen  as  chose  to  join  them, 
which  many  probably  did  at  the  time  of  the  fall  hunt.  But,  in 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  53 

the  early  spring,  the  whole  valley,  with  its  surrounding  hillsides, 
was  alive  with  the  hunters  of  the  moose,  —  the  broad-horned 
"  winter-deer ; "  and,  as  the  ice  melted  from  the  waters,  their 
banks  were  lined  with  the  forms  of  the  trappers,  as,  now  bending, 
now  creeping,  they  cautiously  examined  their  thick-set  snares. 

Of  what  wild  adventure,  of  what  wily  craft,  the  scenes  now 
familiar  to  us  were  witnesses  in  those  errand  hunts,  or  durino-  the 

O  7  O 

desperate  struggles  for  tribal  independence  which  have  been  por- 
trayed, imagination  only  can  tell ;  unless,  indeed,  antiquarian 
research  shall  yet  discover  some  fragments  of  the  story,  imbed- 
ded perhaps,  as  much  which  goes  to  make  up  this  chapter  was 
found,  in  documents  otherwise  dry  as  dust. 

We  need  not  here  pursue  the  topic  further.  The  fairest  era  in 
the  Mohegan's  story  —  that  of  his  introduction  to  Christian  civili- 
zation—  belongs  to  the  annals  of  Stockbridge.  But,  while  Pitts- 
field  may  well  envy  her  beautiful  sister-town,  the  memories  of 
that  noble  missionary  enterprise,  and  of  the  great  men  who  were 
connected  with  it,  happily  she  has  also  little  of  that  tragic  inter- 
est, so  far  as  events  occurring  upon  her  own  soil  are  concerned, 
which  connects  the  red  man  so  sadly  with  the  early  history  of 
many  Xe\v-England  towns.  The  first  inhabitants  and  their 
fathers  had  already,  in  other  places,  borne  their  full  part  in  the 
dangers,  sufferings,  and  losses  inflicted  by  savage  warfare,  as,  in  all 
respects,  they  had  contributed  their  full  share  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  the  commonwealth.  The  names  they  bore  were  not 
strange  to  Massachusetts  history,  but  had  been  hallowed  in  that 
baptism  of  blood  which,  for  a  century  of  cruel  years,  was  poured 
out  over  the  Valley  of  the  Connecticut. 

Military  rolls  —  almost  lost  among  similar  memorials  of  honor 
which  war  after  war  has  accumulated  in  the  archives  of  Massachu- 
setts —  still  preserve  the  names  of  some,  afterwards  among  the  foun- 
ders of  Pittsfielcl,  who,  when  younger  men,  of  Springfield,  Northamp- 
ton, Westfield,  and  other  towns,  fought  in  "  the  old  Indian  wars." 
But  the  record  of  individual  suffering  and  achievement  is  scant ; 
while  of  the  daring  women,  who,  with  husband  and  son,  braved 
the  dangers  of  that  lurid  frontier,  only  here  and  there  an  incident 
is  told:  of  which  one,  in  which  an  ancestress  of  the  Janes-Brown 
families  of  Pittsfield  was  the  heroine,  must  suffice  for  an  illustra- 
tion. This  lady,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Janes,  was,  says  Rev. 
Frederic  Janes  (the  historian  of  the  family),  conspicuous  in  the 


54  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

tragic  perils  and  sufferings  at  Pasconiac,  near  Northampton  Vil- 
lage, in  1704, — saw  her  four  children  murdered  by  the  savages, 
and  was  herself  tomahawked,  scalped,  and  left  for  dead ;  but 
recovered,  after  two  years  of  suffering,  and  bore  four  other  chil- 
dren. One  of  her  grandsons,  Elijah,  settled  in  Pittsfield  about 
1763,  and  other  of  her  descendants  at  various  times. 1 

1  In  the  foregoing  chapter,  the  accounts  of  the  customs  and  pre-historic  migra- 
tions of  the  Mohegans  are  gathered  from  the  traditions  preserved  by  President 
Dwight.  For  the  story  of  their  wars  with  the  Iroquois,  I  have  depended  chiefly 
upon  the  documentary  history  of  New  York,  and  the  histories  of  that  State  by 
Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan  and  John  Komeyn  Brodhead. 


.CHAPTER    II. 

GRANTS.—  SURVEYS.  —  SALES. 
[1620-1741.] 

Advance  of  Population  Westward  in  Massachusetts.  —  History  of  the  Western 
Boundary  of  Massachusetts.  —  First  Settlement  on  the  Housatonic.  —  Disposi- 
tion by  the  General  Court  of  Wild  Lands  in  Hampshire  County.  —  Jacob  Wen- 
dell. —  John  Stoddard.  —  Grant  to  Stoddard.  —  Grant  to  Boston.  —  Boston  sells 
to  Wendell.  —  Adjustment  of  the  Rights  of  Wendell,  Stoddard,  and  Philip 
Livingston.  —  Cost,  Form,  and  Dimensions  of  the  Township. 


E  tide  of  population,  setting  westward  from  Plymouth  Rock, 
JL  in  the  brief  space  of  twenty-six  years  advanced  to  the  shores 
of  the  Connecticut,  where  Springfield  was  founded  in  1636.  Thirty 
additional  years  carried  it  forward  but  barely  ten  miles  to  West- 
field,  where,  stayed  at  the  base  of  Tekoa  Mountain,  it  paused  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  until  suddenly,  in  1725,  it  overleaped  the 
Iloosacs,  and  the  village  of  Sheffield  was  planted  upon  the  broadest 
and  most  fertile  meadows  of  the  Housatonic.  Twenty-seven  years 
more  elapsed  before  a  permanent  settlement  was  effected  at  belated 
Poontoosuok.  Thus  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years  intervened  be- 
tween the  settlement  of  Springfield  and  that  of  Pittsfield.  The  Con- 
necticut Valley,  with  its  people  decimated  by  repeated  massacre 
and  harried  by  hordes  of  savages,  whose  apparent  numbers  were 
enhanced  by  their  mode  of  warfare,  —  this  valley,  with  fields  more 
abundant  than  husbandmen,  —  had  small  temptation  to  offshoot  its 
scanty  population  into  a  region  whose  frowning  mountains  even 
now  turn  eastward  their  most  rugged  front,  and  which  then  lay 
in  most  provoking  contiguity  to  the  war-path  of  the  Canadian 
foe.  This,  however,  was  by  no  means  the  sole  or  even  the  chief 
cause  which  postponed  the  western  settlements.  It  was  little  effect, 
except  when  war  actually  existed,  that  such  obstacles  were  wont 
to  have  in  staying  the  progress  of  Massachusetts  population  when 
the  interests  of  the  Province  demanded  that  it  should  advance. 

65 


56  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  impediment  which  proved  effectual  was  the  uncertainty  of 
the  New-York  boundary,  which  a  series  of  conflicting  royal  grants 
and  charters  had  involved  in  a  curious  complication  that  was  only 
finally  disentangled  by  what  New  York  called  "  intrusion,"  but 
Massachusetts  a  bold  assumption  of  just  territorial  rights.1 

The  antagonistic  positions  maintained  by  the  two  Provincial 
Governments  may,  perhaps,  be  best  exhibited  in  dialogue,  thus :  — 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —  Under  royal  charter  granted  A.D.  1691  by 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  of  blessed  memory,  my  territory 
extends  as  far  west  as  that  of  Connecticut,  in  virtue  of  the  words 
following ;  to  wit,  "  westward  as  far  as  our  colonies  of  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  and  the  Narragansett  countrie." 

NEW  YORK.  —  Nay ;  but  these  words  refer  to  the  eastern  and  not 
to  the  western  bounds  of  Connecticut :  rightfully  construed,  they 
do  not  bring  you  even  to  the  Connecticut  River.  However,  up  to 
that  line,  it  is  no  concern  of  mine;  but  observe,  in  1674, — seven- 
.teen  years  antecedent  to  your  charter  from  William  and  Mary,  — 
Charles  the  Second  granted,  among  other  territories,  to  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  York,  "  all  the  lands  from  the  west  side  of  the  Con- 
necticut to  the  east  side  of  Delaware  Bay."  And  to  the  Duke's 
title  my  government  succeeds.2 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —  True,  as  to  Charles's  grant;  and  that  was 
not  the  only  portion  of  my  proper  territory  the  royal  rascal  tried  to 
steal  for  his  brother,  the  sometime  papist  tyrant,  before  his  corrupt 
judges  robbed  me  legally,  or  at  least  with  some  of  the  forms  of 
law,  of  the  whole. 

NEW  YORK.  —  But  you  will  not  deny,  that,  your  charter  having 
been  vacated  in  chancery,  it  was  competent  for  the  King  to  dispose 
as  he  pleased  of  the  lands  reverting  to  him. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —  We  need  not  discuss  that.  The  decree  in 
chancery  issued  in  1684.  It  could  have  no  effect  upon  transactions 
in  1674,  when,  if  at  all,  the  Duke's  rights  must  have  accrued  'from 
the  last  confirmation  of  his  grant  of  which  there  is  any  pretence. 
By  the  King's  patent,  only  such  title  could  have  passed  as  was  then 
in  him,  not  that  which  he  may  afterwards  have  acquired.  Now, 

1  Resulting,  however,  in  an  amicable  adjustment  of  claims. 

2  New  York  also  contended  that  the  boundary  established  between  that  Province 
and  Connecticut  was  not  that  contemplated  by  the  original  patents,  but  was  con- 
ceded by  a  special  agreement  between  the  parties,  for  reasons  not  applicable  to  the 
case  of  Massachusetts ;  among  which,  one  was  the  actual  occupation  of  the  territory 
by  Connecticut  colonists. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  57 

in  1674, 1  was  living  under  the  grand  old  charter  which  made  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  seas  my  eastern  and  western  bounds. 

NEW  YOKE.  —  Hold !  Not  so  fast  !  Remember  that  your 
'  grand  old  charter"  — that  of  the  first  Charles,  in  1628,  I  suppose 
you  speak  of — limits  itself  by  this  restriction  :  "Provided  also  that 
the  said  islands,  or  any  the  premises  by  the  said  letters-patent  in- 
tended or  meant  to  be  granted,  were  not  then  actually  possessed  or 
inhabited  by  any  other  Christian  prince  or  state."  Now,  about  the 
year  1608,  "as  appears  from  the  book  entituled  'The  British  Empire 
in  America,' "  Henry  Hudson  discovered  the  lands  of  this  prov- 
ince ;  and,  by  virtue  of  that  discovery,  the  Dutch  —  whose  title  is 
merged  in  mine,  and  under  whom,  as  well  as  the  Duke,  I  claim  — 
possessed  and  occupied  the  same  as  far  north-easterly  as  the  Con- 
necticut River,  near  which,  I  doubt  not,  it  may  be  made  to  appear 
many  Dutch  people  wei'e  settled.1 

And  thereupon  Massachusetts  made  an  issue  of  fact,  denying 
any  such  sufficient  occupation  by  the  Dutch  as  was  alleged,  except 
as  regarded  a  narrow  strip  of  territory  along  the  Hudson. 

The  controversy  continued  many  years,  and  was  finally  ter- 
minated, without  an  adjudication  upon  its  original  merits, 
by  an  agreement  entered  into  by  the  parties,  after  an  amicable 
conference  by  their  representatives  at  Hartford,  in  1773.  The 
boundary  then  consented  to  was  substantially  that  claimed  by 
Massachusetts;  but,  instead  of  being  a  continuation  due  north 
of  the  Connecticut  line,  it  was  made  to  deflect  considerably 
towards  the  east  by  a  corresponding  divergence  in  the  course 
of  the  Hudson  River,  between  which  and  Massachusetts  it 
was  provided  that  a  space  of  twenty  miles  should  at  all  points 
intervene. 

Until  this  arrangement  was  effected,  the  uncertain  dividing-line 
was  a  constant  source  of  trouble,  vexation,  and  anxiety ;  some- 
times resulting  in  violence,  and  once  at  least  in  bloodshed, 
between  parties  who  acted  under  conflicting  patents  from  the 
rival  Governments.  In  general,  however,  the  influence  of  the  royal 
governors  prevented  a  resort  to  extreme  measures.  Massachusetts 
maintained  her  jurisdiction  up  to  the  boundary  which  she  claimed. 
New  York  ruled  beyond  it.  Conflicts  arose  only  in  the  few  cases 
in  which  the  two  Governments  had  granted  the  same  tracts  to 

1  Papers  relating  to  the  Livingston  Manor  and  the  New-Hampshire  Grants, 
N.  Y.,  Doc.  Hist.,  and  Col.  Docs. 


58  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

different  parties,  and  principally  as  to  those  now  mostly  included 
in  the  towns  of  Sheffield,  Mount  Washington,  and  Egremont, 
but  which  were  known  to  New-York  colonial  geography  as 
the  tracts  of  Taghkanik  and  Westenhook  in  the  manor  of 
Livingston. 

Previous  to  the  conference  of  1773,  New  York,  nevertheless, 
did  not  in  terms  relinquish  her  pretensions  to  any  of  the  territory 
claimed  by  Massachusetts  west  of  the  Connecticut  River.  On 
the  contrary,  she  rather  insisted  upon  their  validity;  and,  while 
hinting  that  equity  might  require  the  Crown  to  confirm  to  individ- 
uals the  lands  actually  possessed  and  improved  by  them,  she 
clogged  this  concession  by  insisting  upon  the  quit-rents  which 
lands  in  her  patents  paid  to  the  royal  revenue.  These  rents  had 
sometimes  furnished  corrupt  officials  with  a  pretext  for  extortion, 
and  had  always  been  fruitful  of  discontent,  even  among  those 
who  had  accepted  grants  specifically  charged  with  them. 

In  Massachusetts,  no  such  tribute  was  known.  Her  settlers 
boasted  themselves  freeholders,  —  a  title  which  conferred  not 
only  substantial  rights,  but  much-prized  burgher  dignity.  They 
therefore  especially  dreaded  transfer  to  a  government  whose  lands 
were  universally  held  under  what  they  deemed  a  feudal  tenure. 
The  New-York  officials,  on  the  other  hand,  were  contemplating 
with  impatient  longing  the  sums  which  the  quit-rents  due  upon 
the  lands  unjustly  withheld  by  Massachusetts  ought  to  bring 
into  their  treasury ;  Gov.  Hardy  estimating  them,  in  1756,  at  £2,000 
per  annum,  and  Lieut.-Gov.  Colden,  in  1764,  being  content  with 
the  more  moderate  demand  of  £1,200.  We  can  thus  well  com- 
prehend the  relief  which  must  have  been  afforded  to  the  people 
of  Pitts'field,  as  well  as  of  her  sister  towns,  by  the  result  of  the 
Hartford  conference,  which  was  doubtless  one  of  the  causes  that, 
in  the  ensuing  ten  years,  vexed  as  they  were  with  war  and 
financial  disorder,  nearly  doubled  her  population. 

The  line  agreed  upon  in  1773  was  not,  however,  finally  run  until 
1787,  when  Congress,  at  the  request  of  the  States  interested,  ap- 
pointed a  commission  for  the  purpose,  consisting  of  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Ewing,  a  distinguished  savan  of  Philadelphia;  David  Rittenhouse, 
the  celebrated  astronomer;  and  Thomas  Hutchins,  the  national 
geographer-general.  All  the  science  of  even  this  distinguished 
triad  was,  however,  insufficient  to  correct  the  variations  of  the 
magnetic  needle  among  the  iron-laden  hills  of  Taconicj  and 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  59 

the  line  was  not  precisely  that  contemplated  by  the  parties :  but 
the  error  was  of  trifling  moment  as  compared  with  the  amity 
of  contiguous  States.  The  line,  therefore,  remains  as  it  was  then 
fixed,  with  the  slight  exception  caused  by  the  cession  of  Boston 
Corner  to  New- York  in  1855,  which,  although  made  for  the  con- 
venience of  those  living  upon  that  little  tract,  incidentally  rectified, 
in  part,  the  error  of  1787.1 

We  must  now  return  to  the  period  when  the  pioneer  civilization 
of  Massachusetts,  after  its  long  pause  upon  the  banks  of  the  Con- 
necticut, was  about  to  advance  at  one  bound  to  those  of  the 
Housatonic. 

Between  the  years  1717  and  1722,  it  became  apparent,  from  the 
course  of  New  York,  that  the  boundary  between  that  Province 
and  Connecticut,  agreed  upon  in  1683-4,  must  soon  be  run. 

Roughly,  that  agreement  was  upon  a  line  about  twenty  miles 
east  of  the  Hudson  ;  and  it  was  manifest,  as  well  from  observation 
as  from  the  express  declaration  of  the  representatives  of  New 
York,  that  Connecticut,  in  obtaining  a  boundary  so  far  westward 
of  that  originally  conceded  to  her,  had  been  mainly  aided  by 
boldly  pushing  forward  her  population  to  the  farthest  limits  which 
she  claimed. 

E very  consideration,  then,  urged  Massachusetts  to  a  similar 
course ;  while  the  precedent  of  Connecticut  imparted  confidence 
to  settlers  in  the  titles  founded  upon  a  basis  which  had  proved 
sufficient  in  the  southern  Province.  Nine  years  of  peace  since 
Queen  Anne's  War  had  also  reinvigorated  the  frontier,  and  filled 
it  with  young  men  impatient  for  a  new  advance  into  the  wilder- 
ness. 

In  1722,  therefore,  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  citizens  of 
Hampshire  County  petitioned  the  General  Court  for  a  grant 
of  lands  in  the  Valley  of  the  "Housatunnuk  or  Westbrook." 
Some  of  the  best  minds 2  in  the  councils  of  the  Province  then 
represented  the  old  county,  and  strongly  favored,  if  they  had  not 
indeed  suggested,  the  petition :  and  accordingly  the  townships 

1  The  extension  of  Massachusetts  a  little  farther  westward  than  Connecticut, 
notwithstanding  her  claim  to  only  coequal  bounds,  is  accounted  for  by  the  cession, 
by  the  latter  State,  of  a  strip  from  her  western  border  as  an  equivalent  for  a  tract 
added  to  Fairfield  County  from  New  York. 

2  Among  these,  one  of  the  most  active  and  influential  was  Ebenezer  Pomcroy, 
an  ancestor  of  the  Pomeroy  family  of  Pittsfield. 


60  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

afterwards  designated  as  the  "Upper  and  Lower  Housatunnuk" 
were  granted;  their  ample  limits  embracing  the  present  towns 
of  Sheffield,  Great  Barrington,  Mount  Washington,  and  Alford, 
with  a  great  portion  of  Stockbridge,  West  Stockbridge,  and  Lee. 
The  settlement  of  this  tract  commenced  at  what  is  now  Sheffield, 
in  1725,  simultaneously  with  the  survey  of  the  New-York  and 
Connecticut  boundary-line ;  but  the  enterprise  lagged  until  the 
completion  of  that  survey  in  1731.  About  that  time,  an  informal 
understanding  appears  to  have  been  at  least  tacitly  established 
between  New  York  and  Massachusetts ;  for  a  New-York  historian 
of  that  period  exultingly  records  that  "it  was  left  for  the  year 
1731  to  be  distinguished  for  the  complete  settlement  of  the 
boundary  disputes,  —  an  event,  considering  the  late  colonizing 
spirit  and  extensive  claims  of  the  New-England  people,  of  no 
small  importance." 

Something  very  like  a  Western  fever,  and  speculation  in  "  the  un- 
appropriated lands  of  the  Province,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire," 
now  sprang  up.  The  General  Court,  eager  to  occupy  the  disputed 
territory,  made  liberal  grants  to  actual  settlers  upon  payment  of 
sums  barely  sufficient  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title,  and  defray 
the  expenses  of  formally  establishing  the  plantations.  To  other 
purchasers,  lands  were  sold  at  a  moderate  price  per  acre.  Public 
men  were  rewarded  for  services  to  the  State  by  gifts  of  forest 
tracts;  institutions  of  learning  were  endowed  with  townships;  and 
towns  at  the  east,  upon  which  an  unfair  proportion  of  the  general 
burdens  fell,  were  relieved  by  drafts  upon  the  same  treasury  of 
public  wealth.1 

But,  whatever  might  otherwise  be  the  nature  of  the  grant, 
provision  —  generally  in  the  form  which  we  shall  find  in  the  case 
of  Pittsfield  —  was  almost  invariably  made  for  a  speedy,  thrifty, 
and  defensible  settlement  by  Massachusetts  subjects,  and  for  the 
support  of  schools  and  public  worship. 

1  There  was  no  division  of  the  territory  into  townships  by  general  survey ;  but 
grants  were  made  of  a  certain  number  of  acres,  sometimes  of  a  prescribed  com- 
pactness, to  be  selected  from  the  unappropriated  lands  of  the  Province  in  the 
county  of  Hampshire,  "  to  be  surveyed,  and  a  plat  thereof  returned  to  the  General 
Court"  within  a  specified  time,  "for  confirmation."  Afterwards,  the  nooks 
between  these  selections  were  granted.  This  practice,  the  variation  of  the  western 
boundary  of  the  State  from  the  line  at  first  expected,  and  the  mountainous  ridges 
which  intersect  the  county,  are  the  chief,  although  not  the  only  causes  of  the  very 
irregular  shapes  and  sizes  of  the  Berkshire  towns. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSF1ELD.  61 

There  was  no  lack  of  men  ready  to  accept  lands,  even  upon  an 
exposed  frontier,  and  with  Indian  claims  to  be  extinguished, 
when  the  terms  were  otherwise  so  easy  as  those  described  above. 
Nor  were  there  wanting  many,  with  strong  muscles  and  intelligent 
minds,  although  of  feeble  purse,  who  were  willing  to  encounter 
danger,  exposure,  and  the  most  arduous  labors,  that  they  might 
build  up  homes  in  the  newly-opened  country. 

The  system  of  large  farms  and  scant  culture  —  natural  to  new 
countries,  and  not  without  its  benefits  in  diffusing  population  — 
left  many  young  men,  even  in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Connecticut, 
with  no  alternative  but  to  till  an  inferior  soil,  or  bravely  win  a 
richer  from  the  forest.  We  know  what  class  chose  the  latter : 
the  advancing  wave  of  civilization  bore  the  noblest  spirits  on  its 
crest.  Persons  of  a  riper  age  and  more  ample  means,  whose  pro- 
fessional or  political  success  had  not  equalled  their  ambition,  or 
perhaps  their  conscious  merit,  were  tempted,  if  of  elastic  tem- 
perament and  persistent  resolution,  to  new  fields  of  effort  in  the 
rising  plantations,  where  their  experience,  serviceable  to  the  com- 
munity, would  be  welcomed  and  rewarded.  Men  of  public  spirit 
and  unemployed  capital  at  once  gratified  their  tastes,  and  found 
a  profitable  investment  for  their  money,  in  furthering  the  settle- 
ment of  townships,  whose  acres  were  certain  to  increase  many  fold 
in  value  by  the  labors  and  outlays  of  those  who  purchased  a  small 
portion,  often  for  almost  as  much  as  the  first  cost  of  the  whole 
tract. 

The  Provincial  archives  of  the  period  are  full  of  papers  con- 
cerning wild  lands,  new  settlements,  and  dealings  regarding  them ; 
and,  among  the  names  which  most  frequently  recur  in  these 
documents,  are  those  most  conspicuous  also  in  the  transactions 
preliminary  to  the  settlement  of  Pittsfield,  —  Cols.  Jacob  Wendell 
of  Boston,  and  John  Stoddard  of  Northampton. 

These  gentlemen  were  both  men  of  property,  members  of  the 
Provincial  Council,  and  colonels  of  the  militia  in  their  respective 
counties.  Col.  Wendell,  born  at  Albany  in  1691,  of  Dutch  lineage, 
connected  with  some  of  the  most  prominent  families  in  that  ancient 
burgh,  early  transferred  his  prosperous  fortunes  to  Boston,  where 
he  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants  of  the  port,  a  director  of 
the  first  banking  institution  established  in  America,  and  a  success- 
ful politician.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Oliver  of 
Cambridge,  and  by  her  became  the  father  of  a  son  more  dis- 


62  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

tinguished  than  himself,  —  Oliver  Wendell,  the  bold  and  ardent 
Revolutionary  leader,  —  and  the  ancestor  of  two  men  of  brilliant 
intellectual  fame  in  our  own  day,  "Wendell  Phillips  and  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes. 

Col.  Stoddard  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the 
Provincial  history  of  New  England,  if  we  may  credit  so  eminent  a 
eulogist  as  President  Edwards,  who  ascribes  to  him  "  the  highest 
native  gifts  of  mind,  a  peculiar  genius  for  public  affairs,  a  thorough 
political  knowlege,  great  purity  of  life,  incorruptible  principles,  and 
sincere  piety."  He  adds,  that,  "  upon  the  whole,  there  perhaps 
never  was  a  man  in  New  England  to  whom  the  appellation  of  '  a 
great  man '  did  more  properly  belong."  This  is,  to  be  sure,  the 
language  of  eulogy,  uttered  by  one  mourning  the  newly  dead,  to 
whom  he  had  been  bound  by  the  ties  of  kindred,  and  the  closest 
sympathies  of  religious  opinion ;  but  the  assenting  judgment  of 
unbiassed  contemporaries  of  Col.  Stoddard,  and  the  record  of  his 
public  life,  permit  us  to  deduct  little  from  President  Edwards's 
high  estimate  of  his  character. 

There  were  but  few  public  undertakings  of  much  consequence, 
in  his  time,  in  which  he  had  not  some  part ;  and,  among  other 
commissions  upon  which  he  served,  were  those  to  open  the  settle- 
ment at  Sheffield,  and  to  establish  the  celebrated  Indian  mission 
at  Stockbridge;  in  both  of  which  lie  was  joined  with  Ebenezer 
Pomeroy.  During  Queen  Anne's  War,  his  command  of  the 
militia,  in  the  most  exposed  portion  of  the  Province,  was  credit- 
able; and,  at  its  close,  he  was  sent  to  Canada  to  effect  the  restora- 
tion of  the  New-England  captives  who  were  scattered  among  the 
savages  of  that  region. 

In  1734,  the  General  Court  granted  to  this  faithful  servant  of  the 
Province  one  thousand  acres  of  its  "  unappropriated  lands  in  the 
county  of  Hampshire,"  to  be  by  himself  selected  in  some  convenient 
place.  The  grant  was  asked  in  consideration  of  Col.  Stoddard's 
"great  services  and  sufferings  for  the  public  in  divers  journeys  to 
Canada,  Albany,  and  the  eastern  parts,  upon  public  affairs;  his 
serving  in  war  with  good  success;  his  transactions  with  the 
Canadian  and  other  Avestern  Indians;  and  his  entertaining  of 
them  at  his  o\vn  house  without  any  expense  to  the  Province." 

It  was  required  that  the  thousand  acres  should  be  laid  out  by 
surveyor  and  chain-men,  under  oath,  and  a  plat  returned  to  the 
General  Court  for  confirmation  within  twelve  months  of  the  passage 


HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  63 

of  the  act  which  bore  date  Dec.  17,  1734.  The  Legislature  were, 
however,  not  rigid  as  to  lapses  of  time  when  conflicting  claims  did 
not  accrue  in  the  interval ;  and  the  grant  was  duly  confirmed, 
although  the  survey  was  not  submitted  until  June  22,  1736.  The 
bounds  of  the  patent  are  thus  defined :  — 

"  Lying  on  the  main  branch  of  the  Housatonic  River,  about  sixteen  miles 
north  of  Capt.  Konkapot's  house :  beginning  east  ten  degrees,  south  eighty 
perch  from  two  hemlock-trees,  marked  (which  trees  stand  upon  a  ridge  of 
upland  running  northerly),  and  coming  to  a  point  a  few  rods  from  said  trees, 
which  are  about  ten  rods  from  a  sand-bank  on  the  east  side  of  said  Housa- 
tonic River,  just  above  Unkamet's  or  Antankamet's  Road,  where  it  crosseth 
said  branch :  and,  from  the  end  of  the  aforesaid  eighty  perch  from  said  trees, 
it  runneth  north  ten  degrees,  east  two  hundred  and  forty  perch :  thence 
west  ten  degrees,  north  four  hundred  perch  ;  thence  south  ten  degrees,  west 
four  hundred  perch ;  thence  east  ten  degrees,  south  four  hundred  perch ; 
and  thence  north  ten  degrees,  east  one  hundred  and  sixty  perch,  to  the 
eastern  end  of  the  first  eighty  perch." 

Konkapot's  house  stood  upon  the  north  bank  of  Konkapot's 
Brook,  in  Stockbridge.  Unkamet's  Road  extended  from  North- 
ampton to  Albany.  It  was  probably  an  ancient  Indian  trail, 
improved  by  passing  parties  of  soldiers  and  surveyors,  so  as  to 
admit  the  use  of  pack-horses,  upon  which  supplies  for  the  army 
and  the  settlers  were  transported.  It  crossed  the  eastern  branch 
of  the  Plousatonic,  near  where  the  highway,  Unkarnet  Street,  next 
south  of  the  Western  Railroad,  now  bridges  it.1  As  the  meadows  at 
that  point  were  called  "  Unkamet's,"  and  a  neighboring  brook  bore 
the  same  name,2  it  is  fair  to  surmise  that  some  Mohegan  guide, 
whose  wigwam  stood  in  the  vicinity,  acquired  among  the  trav- 
ellers who  passed  that  way,  in  Col.  Stoddard's  time  or  earlier,  the 
sobriquet  of  Unkamet,  or  Old-Path-Over-Yonder,  from  the  phrase 
which  was  perpetually  recurring  in  their  intercourse  ;  the  transla- 
tion of  the  word  "Unkamet"  being  simply  "the  path  over  there." 

Col.  Stoddard,  in  his  frequent  visits  to  Albany,  Sheffield,  and 
Stockbridge,  as  well  as  in  his  military  oversight  of  the  district, 
must  have  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  region ;  and  he 
manifested  his  knowledge  of  it  shrewdly  in  selecting  his  thousand 
acres,  which  hardly  had  their  equal  within  the  bounds  of  his  choice. 
Lying  in  the  form  of  a  square  at  the  western  terminus  of  the  most 

1  Plan  of  the  town  in  1752,  and  deed  in  Henry  Colt's  collection. 

2  Vulgarly  corrupted  in  later  times  to  Huckamuck. 


64  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

convenient  pass  through  the  Hoosac  Mountains,  it  included  some 
of  the  most  luxuriant  meadows  and  fertile  uplands  in  the  Province. 
One  of  the  best  water-privileges  on  the  Upper  Housatonic  added 
to  its  wealth ;  and  its  location  rendered  it  likely  to  become  the 
intersecting  point  of  the  county  roads.  Stoddard's  thousand 
acres  must  be  borne  in  mind :  they  will  have  their  distinctive  part 
in  our  story. 

But  even  this  fine  tract,  encumbered  as  it  was  by  Indian  claims, 
and  with  its  value  largely  in  anticipation,  would,  in  modern  judg- 
ment, be  considered  an  inadequate  recompense  for  the  array  of 
public  services  which  we  have  quoted  of  Col.  Stoddard.  And 
there  are  indications  that,  even  with  his  more  primitive  notions, 
he  entertained  a  similar  opinion  of  his  reward.  He  certainly  con- 
templated an  extension  of  his  patent,  either  by  grant  or  purchase, 
to  a  full  township ;  and,  with  this  view,  obtained  deeds  and  leases 
from  different  Indian  claimants,  by  which  their  title  to  a  tract  six 
miles  square,  nearly  identical  with  that  now  covered  by  Pittsfield, 
was  transferred  to  him.  One  of  these  leases  is  preserved  in  the 
collection  of  Hon.  Thos.  Colt,  and  the  material  portions  are  given 
below :  — 

To  all  People  to  whom  these  shall  come.  GREETING  : 

KNOW  YE,  That  we,  Jacobus  Coh-qua-he-ga-meek,  Matakeamin,  and 
Wampenum,  formerly  of  Menanoke,1  or  the  island  in  the  Hudson  below 
Albany,  now  planters  in  the  Indian  town  on  Housatonic  River,  have  de- 
mised, granted,  and  to  farm-letten  (sic),  and  by  these  presents  do  farm-let 
unto  John  Stoddard  of  Northampton,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire  and 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England,  Esq.,  all  that  tract  and 
parcel  of  land,  of  six  miles  square,  lying  and  being  in  the  county  of  Hamp- 
shire and  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  aforesaid,  on  the  main  or  principal 
branch  of  Houseatunnick  River,  so  called,  about  sixteen  miles  northward  of 
the  place  where  Cuncupot  now  dwells,  and  at  the  place  where  Unkamet's 
Road,  so  called,  that  leads  from  Albany  to  Northampton,  crosseth  said  branch, 
beginning  at  said  crossing,  extending  thence  two  miles  eastward  and  four 
miles  westward,  three  miles  northward  and  three  miles  southward,  extending 
every  way  from  said  point  until  it  embraces  six  miles  square  of  land,  .  .  . 
to  have  and  to  hold  for  the  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years. 
[The  yearly  rent  was  fixed  at  «  six  pounds,  in  public  bills  of  the  Province, 
or  its  equivalent  in  silver,  according  to  the  present  worth  or  estimation," 
payment  to  be  made  upon  the  20th  of  October  annually ;  and  the  lessors 
to  have  the  right  to  re-enter  and  take  possession,  if  payment  was  delayed, 

1  A  Mohegan  word,  meaning  "  island  place." 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  65 

twenty-one  days  from  that  d^te.  The  lease  was  executed  "  in  the  elev- 
enth year  of  our  sovereign  Lord,  King  George  the  II.,  and  Anno  Domini 
1737.] 

his 

JACOBUS   x    COOCHEECOMEEK. 

mark. 

MAHTOOKAMIN.  Q 

mark. 
Ma 

WAMPENUM.   Q 

mark. 

Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  in  presence  of 
TIMOTHY  WOODBRIDGE. 
JONATHAN  WHITE. 
ABIGAIL  WOODBRIDGE. 

In  other  parts  of  the  instrument,  the  names  of  the  lessors  are 
spelled  Coquahegameek,  Metakamin,  and  "Wampenon.  The  de- 
scription given  of  the  premises  would  carry  their  bounds  one  mile 
east  of  the  corresponding  limits  of  Pittsfield ;  taking  in  Cranesville 
on  the  east  from  Dalton,  and  excluding  Shaker  Village  on  the 
west. 

But,  before  Col.  Stoddard  was  able  to  procure  a  legislative 
confirmation  of  his  Indian  purchase,  a  grant  of  the  same  tract  to 
other  parties  compelled  him  to  change  his  plans. 

In  June,  1735,  a  memorial  from  the  town  of  Boston  to  the 
General  Court — representing  the  heavy  expenditures  of  that 
municipality  in  supporting  its  poor  and  maintaining  its  free  schools, 
and  also  that  its  citizens  paid  one  fifth  part  of  the  entire  annual 
tax  of  the  Province  —  asked,  in  consideration  of  these  burdens,  for 
"  three  or  four  townships "  of  Hampshire  wild  lands,  "  to  be 
brought  forward  and  settled  as  the  circumstances  of  the  peti- 
tioners might  seem  to  require,  or  upon  such  conditions  as  the 
Court  might  deem  meet." 

In  response  to  this  request,  three  townships,  each  six  miles 
square,1  were  bestowed,  but  not  without  the  usual  provisions  for 
a  speedy  and  rightly-conducted  settlement.  These  conditions, 
which  proved  of  unexpected  moment  to  the  settlers  of  Pittsfield, 
were  thus  expressed  in  the  grant,  immediately  after  the  clause 
requiring  a  survey,  and  the  return  of  the  several  plats  within 
twelve  months  for  confirmation  :  — 

1  Afterwards  Colerainc,  Charlemont,  and  Pittsfield. 
5 


6(5  HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD. 

"  Provided  the  town  of  Boston  do,  within  five  years  from  the  confirmation 
of  said  plats,  settle  upon  each  of  the  said  towns  sixty  families  of  His  Ma- 
jesty's good  subjects,  inhabitants  of  this  Province,  in  as  regular  and  defensible 
manner  as  the  lands  will  admit  of,  each  of  said  families  to  build  and  finish 
a  dwelling-house  upon  his  home-lot,  of  the  following  dimensions,  viz.,  eigh- 
teen feet  square  and  seven  feet  stud  at  the  least ;  that  each  of  the  said  set- 
tlers, within  the  said  term,  bring  to  and  fit  for  improvement  five  acres  of  said 
home-lot,  either  for  ploughing  or  for  mowing,  by  stocking  the  same  well  with 
English  grass,  and  fence  the  same  well  in,  and  actually  live  upon  the  spot ; 
and,  also,  that  they  build  and  finish  a  suitable  and  convenient  house  for  the 
public  worship  of  God ;  and  settle  a  learned  orthodox  minister  in  each  of  the 
said  towns,  and  provide  for  their  honorable  and  comfortable  support ;  and  also 
lay  out  three  house-lots  in  each  of  the  said  towns,  each  of  which  to  draw  a 
sixty-third  part  of  said  town  in  all  future  divisions,  —  one  to  be  for  the  first 
settled  minister,  one  for  the  ministry,  and  one  for  the  schools." 

In  order  that  these  provisions  "  might  be  more  effectually  com- 
plied with,"  a  committee  was  appointed  (consisting  of  John  Jeffries, 
Jacob  Wendell,  and  Samuel  Welles,  of  the  Council ;  and  Elisha 
Cookc,  Oxenbridge  Thatcher,  Thomas  Gushing,  jun.,  and  Timothy 
Prout,  of  the  House),  who  were  authorized  to  admit  settlers,  taking 
from  each  a  bond  of  £25  for  the  performance  of  his  proportion  of 
the  duties  enjoined,  —  the  lot  also  to  revert  to  the  Province  in 
case  of  non-compliance  with  the  prescribed  conditions. 

The  requirement  that  the  settlers  should  be  inhabitants  of 
Massachusetts  was  intended  to  guard  against  the  introduction  of 
Dutchmen  from  New  York,  against  whom  the  boundary  quarrels 
had  created  a  prejudice,  and  who  might  defeat  one  prominent 
object  of  the  General  Court,  —  to  fill  up  the  western  territory  with 
a  population  willing  to  defend  the  Massachusetts  claim. 

The  grant  was  made  June  27,  1735 ;  but,  notwithstanding  the 
language  of  the  act,  the  time  allowed  for  survey  and  return  of  plat, 
either  by  some  construction  or  subsequent  provision  of  law,  did 
not  expire  until  Dec.  29,  1736.  And,  in  June  of  that  year,  Col. 
Jacob  Wendell,  one  of  the  commission  appointed  to  supervise 
the  settlements,  purchased  at  public  auction  the  inchoate  rights  of 
Boston  in  one  of  the  townships ;  "  relying  upon  the  goodness  of 
the  Great  and  General  Court  to  give  him  further  time  to  lay  out 
the  same^and  return  a  plat  for  confirmation."  This  reliance  did 
not  fail  him  ;  and  he  obtained  an  extension  until  the  6th  of  January, 
1738.  That  he  should  obtain  this  favor  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
conditions  of  the  bid  at  vendue;  for  it  was  not  until  the  13th  of 


PLAT  OF  TOWNSHIP,  1738. 


So.  2OfJ-  Wt-  462  Chains  and  31  links. 


O- 


A  Platt  of  a  Townfhip  Granted  by  the  General  Court  to  the  Town 
of  Boston,  and  by  the  Said  Town  of  Boston  Sold  to  the  Honble.  Jacob 
Wendal,  Esqi\  of  the  contents  of  Six  Miles  Square,  Including  in  Said 
Plat  a  Grant  of  1000  acres  made  to  the  Hon^'e- John  Stoddard,  Esqr-, 
which  contains  in  the  whole  24040  acres.  The  whole  whereof  is  thus 
bounded  ;  viz.,  Beginning  at  a  Stake  with  Stones  about  it,  the  S°-  Et- 
corner,  nigh  a  Small  Run  of  water,  about  a  mile  and  Halfe  Eaft  of 
Iloufea  Tunnic  River,  from  Sd-  Stake  the  line  Extends  No.  2oi-  Et. 
462  Chain  31  Links  to  a  Hemlock  tree  marked  on  a  Hill  the  NO.  Et. 
Corner.  From  thence  the  line  Runs  Wt.  2od.  NO.  520  Chain  to  a 
Beach  tree  marked  upon  a  steep  Hill,  with  Ston's  about  it,  the  NO. 
Wt.  Corner.  From  thence  S°-  2c-d-  Wt.  462  Chain  31  links  to  a 
Hemlock  Standing  by  a  little  brook,  mark'd  with  Stones  about  it, 
being  the  So.  Wt.  corner.  From  thence  Et.  2od.  So.  520  Chain,  to 
the  Stake  and  Stones  firft  mention'd,  which  sd.  Townfliip  is  Lying 
About  Five  Miles  NO.  NO.  Et.  From  the  Indian  Town  on  Houfatun- 
nick  River,  in  the  County  of  Hampfhire.  Platted  by  a  Scale  of  48 
Chain  in  an  Inch.  Septemr.  27,  1738. 

Per  JOHN  HUSTON,  Surveyor. 


J3       No.  2od.  Et.  462  Chain  31  links. 


Examd.  Per  Ebene.  Burrill. 


Hampfh.,  Ss.        SPRINGFIELD,  Octobr-  4111,  1738. 

John  Huston  appearing,  made  oath  that  in  Platt- 
ing and  Surveying  the  land  Dcfcribed  in  the  platt 
aforesaid,  he  aftecl  therein  Indifferently  and  Impar- 
tially, according  to  his  best  skill  and  Judgment. 
Before  me, 

WM.  PYNCHON,  JUNR.,  Just.  Pea. 
Plat  accepted  and  allowed,  Deer.  8tl>,  1738. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  67 

March,  1737,  that  the  deed  in  which  these  facts  are  recited, 
and  which  conveyed  the  township,  still  not  laid  out,  to  Col. 
Wendell,  was  executed  by  John  Jeffries,  Jonathan  Armitage, 
David  Colson,  Alexander  Forsythe,  Caleb  Lyman,  Jonas  Clark,  and 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  jun.,  selectmen  of  Boston."  l 

The  survey  was  made  in  September,  1738,  by  John  Huston,  a 
Northampton  civil  engineer  of  repute ;  and  the  plat,  here  inserted, 
was  returned  to  and  accepted  by  the  General  Court  in  the  follow- 
ing act :  — 

"  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Dec.  5,  1738,  read  and  ordered,  '  That 
the  plat  be  accepted  and  allowed,  and  the  lands  therein  delineated  and 
described  be  and  are  hereby  confirmed  to  the-  town  of  Boston  and  their 
assigns  forever  (exclusive  of  the  one-thousand-acres  grant  made  to  the  Hon. 
John  Stoddard,  Esq.,  within  mentioned),  and  is  in  full  satisfaction  of  one  of 
the  three  townships  granted  by  this  Court  to  the  said  town  of  Boston  at 
their  session  begun  and  held  at  Boston,  May  28,  1 735 ;  provided  the  said 
town  of  Boston,  or  their  assigns,  effectually  comply  with  and  fulfil  the  con- 
ditions of  the  grant,  and  that  the  plat  exceeds  not  the  quantity  of  twenty- 
four  thousand  and  forty  acres  of  land,  and  interferes  not  with  any  other  or 
former  grant. ' " 

The  plat  thus  allowed  and  described  as  containing  twenty-four 
thousand  and  forty  acres  of  land  included  the  six  miles  square 
granted  to  the  town  of  Boston,  the  thousand  acres  given  to  Col. 
Stoddard,  and  also  a  strip  sixty-eight  rods  wide  upon  the  west ;  the 
last  item  being  added  as  compensation  "  for  the  waste  ponds  com- 
prised in  the  township."  The  good  people  hardly  foresaw,  that, 
within  little  more  than  a  hundred  years,  these  contemned  waters 
would  be  held  of  higher  value  than  the  same  amount  of  surface 
in  what  they  classed  as  "first-rate  arable  land,"  and  that  rich 
meadows  would  be  submerged  to  increase  their  area. 

The  little  oblong  notch  observable  in  the  north-west  corner  of 

O 

the  map  of  the  town  does  not  appear  in  the  plat,  but  it  is  found 
in  the  plan  of  1752.  Mount  Honwee  here  juts  into  the  angle  of 
the  territory,  as  laid  out  by  Huston  ;  and  probably  it  was  con- 
sidered that  its  steep  declivities  would  be  an  undesirable  posses- 
sion. 

More  than  two  years  elapsed,  after  the  confirmation  of  Col. 
Wendell's  title,  before  his  claims  and  those  of  Col.  Stoddard  w,ere 

1  Copy  of  the  deed  in  possession  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Foote,  certified  by  "  William 
Cooper,  Town  Clerk,"  "  as  of  record  on  the  Boston  Registry  of  Deeds." 


68  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

adjusted;  and  then,  a  third  person  appearing  in  interest,  —  Philip 
Livingston  of  Albany,1  —  deeds  were  interchanged,  by  virtue  of 
which  the  three  gentlemen  became  joint  and  equal  proprietors  of 
the  township.  The  deed  from  Wendell  to  Livingston,  after  quot- 
ino1  the  grantor's  patent  from  the  Province,  thus  recites  the  mutual 
agreement,  in  brief:  — 

"  Whereas  the  said  John  Stoddard  hath  not  only  a  just  and  complete 
title  to  the  thousand  acres  aforesaid,  but  hath  also,  at  great  expense,  pur- 
chased several  grants  and  leases  from  the  natives,  of  the  lands  above 
described;  and  afterwards,  this  very  day  (March  29, 1741),  the  said  Jacob 
Wendell  and  the  said  John  Stoddard,  for  an  amicable  settlement  of  their 
mutual  claims  and  interests  in  the  township  aforesaid,  agreed  that  the  said 
Jacob  Wendell  should  have  two  thirds  of  the  thousand  acres  aforesaid,  and 
the  said  John  Stoddard  should  have  one  third  of  the  rest  of  said  township ; 
.  .  .  and  whereas,  also,  the  said  Jacob  Wendell,  in  all  these  transac- 
tions, purchased  as  well  for  Philip  Livingston  of  Albany,  in  the  Province  of 
New  York,  Esq.  (by  agreement  not  mentioned  therein),  as  for  himself,  in 
equal  halves,  and,  in  his  first  purchase  and  after-gratuities  to  the  natives  for 
their  satisfaction  and  other  charges  upon  the  premises,  disbursed  the  sum  of 
fourteen  hundred  and  sixteen  pounds  three  shillings  and  threepence,  and  for 
that  now  hath  two  third-parts  of  that  whole  tract  of  land  surveyed  and  platted 
as  aforesaid  :  now,  therefore,  know  ye,  that  the  said  Jacob  Wendell,  in  faithful- 
ness to  his  trust  aforesaid,  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  pounds  one  shilling  and  sevenpence  half-penny  in  hand, 
received  of  said  Philip  Livingston  in  full  of  his  part  of  said  purchase- 
money  and  other  disbursements  aforesaid,  doth  hereby  convey  ...  to  the 
said  Philip  Livingston  one  half  of  his  above-mentioned  interest."  2 

Thus  the  cost  of  the  township  up  to  this  time  —  if  we  allow 
Stoddard's  public  service  to  count  in  the  ratio  of  Wendell's  pur- 
chase-money3—  was  precisely  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
seventy-four  pounds  four  shillings  tenpence  and  two  farthings. 

1  The  lord  of  Livingston  Manor,  a  kinsman  of  Col.  Wendell,  and  father  of  him 
who  signed  the  same  name  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.     The  elder  Philip, 
and  after  him  his  eldest  son,  Robert,  claimed  Westenhook  and  Taghkanik  as 
parts  of  their  manor,  and  were  prominent  in  the  troubles  which  arose  concerning 
those  tracts. 

2  Copy  of  deed  in  possession  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Foote,  certified  by  "  Ewd.  Pynchon, 
'  Regr.,"  from  the  Hampshire  Registry  of  Deeds. 

8  Col.  Wendell  paid  to  the  town  Boston  £1,320  for  its  rights  in  the  township. 


CHAPTER   III. 

FIRST  ATTEMPT  TO   SETTLE  THE  TOWNSHIP. 
[1741-1749.] 

Settling-lots  laid  out.  —  Description  of  Lots  and  Roads.  —  Philip  Livingston  to 
procure  Settlers.  —  Efforts  to  introduce  Dutchmen  fail.  —  Huston  induces  a 
Company  from  Westfield  to  purchase  Forty  Lots.  —  Pioneers  commence  a  Clear- 
ing. —  Poontoosuck  as  it  appeared  in  1 743.  — Work  suspended  by  News  of  War. 
—  Col.  William  Williams.  —  The  War  of  1 744-8.  —  Building  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. —  Hardships  of  Settlers  in  the  War. 

~V~1TT~HEN  the  township  was  platted  by  Capt.  Huston  in  1738, 

V  V  sixty-four  home  (or  house)  lots  were  laid  out,  each  intended 
to  contain  one  hundred  acres,  and,  except  where  irregularities 
arose  from  the  indentations  of  Onota  and  Silver  Lakes,  to  be  uni- 
formly of  eighty  rods  front  and  two  hundred  deep.  Careless  sur- 
veying, however,  caused  some  variations  from  this  standard;  the 
lots  in  the  middle  tier,  for  instance,  proving  to  be,  in  fact,  two  hun- 
dred and  two  rods  deep. 

Two  roads,  each  seven  rods  wide,  intersected  each  other  near 
the  centre  of  the  township.  One  of  these,  now  East  and  West 
Streets,  ran  from  boundary  to  boundary ; 1  the  other,  in  that  part 
of  its  course  which  is  now  North  Street,  extended  two  hundred 
rods  above  the  Crossing,  and,  on  the  old  direct  line  of  South 
Street,  four  hundred  and  six  rods  below  it. 

A  third  road,  four  rods  in  width,  was  laid  out  parallel  to  the 
first,  and  two  hundred  and  two  rods  south  of  it.  East  of  its  inter- 
section with  South,  this  is  now  Honasada  Street.  West  of  that 
point,  only  portions  of  it  have  been  opened. 

Along  the  first  and  third  of  these  thoroughfares,  or  what  were 
intended  to  be  such,  the  home-lots  designed  for  settlers  and  for 

'  Owing  to  obstacles  in  the  nature  of  the  ground,  East  Street  has  been  actually 
opened  only  to  the  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  the  Park. 


70  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

public  purposes  were  ranged  in  three  tiers,  running  east  and  west. 
Of  these  the  middle,  containing  twenty-seven  lots,  lay  between  East 
and  West  Streets  and  Honasada  Street,  and  extended  completely 
across  the  township.  The  northern  fronted  south  upon  East  and 
West  Streets,  contained  nineteen  lots,  and,  beginning  at  the  Han- 
cock line,  reached  to  Goodrich  Lake.  The  southern  tier,  facing 
north  upon  Honasada  Street,  numbered  seventeen  lots,  and  extend- 
ed from  the  Dalton  line  to  where  Oceola  Village  now  stands. 

The  territory  thus  set  apart  for  the  proposed  plantation  formed 
about  one  quarter  of  the  whole  township,  and  embraced  its  fair 
proportion  of  good  arable  lands.  It  is  now  far  more  valuable  than 
all  the  rest  of  the  township.  The  northern  boundary  of  the  Set- 
tling-lots would  be  indicated  by  an  extension  of  Burbank  Street; 
the  southern,  by  a  line  drawn  through  South  Mountain  Street  at 
its  intersection  with  South,  passing  a  little  north  of  Melville  Lake. 

The  numbering  of  the  lots,  which  was  peculiarly  arbitrary  and 
puzzling,  recognized  in  them  but  two  classes, — Lots  North  and  Lots 
South.  "  No.  1,  North,"  was  the  most  westerly  in  the  upper  tier. 
From  this,  the  regular  numerical  order  was  followed  up  to  13, 
which  denoted  the  Ministry  Lot,  embracing  nearly  all  the  territory 
which  lies  between  the  west  branch  of  the  Housatonic  and  North 
Street. 

No.  14  was  found  by  a  diagonal  transit  to  the  lot  in  the  middle 
range,  south  of  what  is  now  the  Park,  whence  the  numerical  order 
is  preserved  to  25  at  the  Dalton  Border.  No.  26  designated  the 
Minister's  Lot,  north  of  the  Park,  and  the  next  in  territorial  prox- 
imity to  13.  Nos.  26  to  31,  counting  east,  completed  the  survey- 
or's tier  of  "  Lots  North." 

Lot  No.  1,  of  the  technical  southern  tier,  was  the  most  westerly 
in  the  middle  range.  Thence  arithmetical  regularity  prevailed  up  to 
No.  15,  on  the  corner  of  West  and  South  Streets.  No.  16  dropped 
diagonally  again  to  the  southern  range,  where  it  indicated  the  lot 
on  the  south-eastern  corner  of  South  and  Honasada  Streets,  which 
extends  across  the  Housatonic  River.  Thence  the  enumeration 
again  proceeded  in  due  order  to  27,  on  the  eastern  line  of  the  town. 
No.  28  was  found  next  west  of  16.  Thence  the  figures  increase  west- 
ward to  Lot  33,  the  highest  in  the  list,  which  was  laid  out  in  ad- 
dition to  the  prescribed  sixty-three.  In  conveyances,  leases,  and 
similar  instruments,  the  premises  were  generally  designated  as 


HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  71 

"  Lots  North,  or  South,"  as  the  case  might  be.  Sometimes,  how- 
ever, the  form,  "Lot  No.  — ,  North  (South  or  Middle)  tier,"  was 
used  :  but  here  the  number  referred  to  the  relation  of  the  lot  to  its 
class,  north  or  south ;  the  mention  of  the  tier  in  which  it  was 
actually  located  was  mere  collateral  description. 

As  soon  as  the  terms  of  the  joint  proprietorship  were  fixed,  in 
1741,  the  whole  matter  of  complying  with  the  requisitions  attached 
to  the  grant  was  intrusted  to  Livingston ;  and,  either  through 
ignorance  or  wilfulness,  setting  at  naught  one  of  the  provisions  of 
the  act,  he  at  once  visited  the  township  with  seventy  Dutchmen, 
whom  he  hoped  to  induce  to  purchase  sixty  of  the  lots  "at  a 
moderate  lay  "  in  money,  with  the  further  consideration  that  they 
should  perform  all  the  duties  imposed  by  the  General  Court  upon 
the  entire  tract  of  twenty-four  thousand  acres.1 

The  requirement  that  each  settler  must  take  the  good,  bad,  or  in- 
different lands  which  might  fall  to  him  by  lot  in  the  confined  tiers 
which  had  been  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  was  unsatisfactory  to 
the  Dutchmen ;  and  perhaps  the  soil  of  Poontoosuck  did  not  com- 
pare so  favorably  with  the  broad  fertility  of  the  Valley  of  the  Hud- 
son as  it  did  with  that  of  the  regions  from  which  the  eastern  emi- 
grants came.  Perhaps,  also,  the  strangers  at  whom  it  was  aimed^ 
observing  the  clause  in  the  Boston  patent  excluding  them  from  its 
benefits,  may  have  conceived  a  doubt  as  to  the  validity  of  the  title 
which  they  were  to  receive.  They  certainly,  upon  hearing  the 
terms  proposed,  peremptorily  refused  "even  so  much  as  to  ac- 
cept the  lands  if  they  were  offered  as  a  gift,  not  to  speak  of  the 
conditions  attached  to  them,"  unless  they  might  select  each  his 
hundred  acres  where  it  pleased  him;  which  would  have  left  but  a 
barren  remainder  to  the  original  proprietors. 

The  Dutchmen  —  wisely  for  themselves,  as  the  event  proved  — 
returned  as  they  came,  leaving  Mr.  Livingston  and  his  partners 
sadly  broken  up  in  their  plans,  and,  owing  to  previous  delays, 
sorely  pressed  for  time. 

Upon  this  Capt.  Huston,  who  had  surveyed  the  township  and 
was  familiar  with  its  good  points,  learning  how  affairs  stood  with 

1  Petitions  to  the  Provincial  Government  from  the  settlers,  in  1762-6,  alleged 
that  Wendell  and  Stoddard  left  it  to  Livingston  to  obtain  settlers,  with  the  express 
expectation  that  he  would  procure  them  from  the  Dutch,  as  the  place  lay  near  their 
country,  whence  they  could  bring  provisions,  etc.,  until  they  could  raise  it ;  "  and 
thus  they  would  have  a  Dutch  town  at  once." 


T2  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

his  old  employers,  induced  a  number  of  his  acquaintances  in  West- 
field  and  thereabout  to  visit  the  place.  Their  inspection  proving 
satisfactory,  a  company  was  formed,  which  sent  Capt.  Huston, 
Joseph  Root,  and  John  Lee  to  Albany,  "  empowered  to  agree  with 
Mr.  Livingston  for  forty  of  the  aforesaid  Dutch-despised  lots." 
Livingston  was  so  well  pleased  with  Huston's  proceedings,  that  he 
gave  him  three  good  lots  as  a  gratuity ;  and  he  so  successfully 
plied  the  committee,  that,  instead  of  merely  making  an  agreement 
for  the  forty  lots,  —  getting  a  bond  for  a  deed,  as  was  probably  the 
expectation  of  the  company,  —  they  bought  them  outright,  giving 
their  note  for  the  purchase-money,  which  was  fixed  at  £1200,  cur- 
rent money  of  the  Province ;  "  as  much,  within  £120,"  the  settlers 
were  fond  of  boasting,  as  Col.  Wendell  paid  to  Boston  for  the  whole 
township.1  These  statements,  although  ex  parte,  are  probably  sub- 
stantially correct,  as  the  answers  of  the  respondents  to  the  memo- 
rials do  not  attempt  to  controvert  them. 

The  committee  also  bound  themselves,  or  the  settlers  under  them, 
to  perform  two-thirds  of  all  the  duties  enjoined  by  the  conditions 
of  the  grant  upon  the  whole  township.  Certainly,  taking  into  view 
all  the  circumstances,  these  Connecticut-River  Yankees  did  not 
drive  a  shrewd  bargain  with  the  lord  of  the  Livingston  Manor. 
The  Dutchmen  were  the  sharper  of  the  two  parties. 

The  lots  obtained  by  this  purchase  were  Nos.  1  to  8  inclusive, 
in  both  classes;  Nos.  9  to  32  south,  inclusive,  except  14,  16,  17, 
and  27;  and  Nos.  16,  17,  18,  and  19,  north. 

Most  of  these  lands  were  deficient  in  pine  timber,  of  which 
there  were  rich  forests  in  the  "  Commons,"  as  the  lands  outsiue 
the  Settling-lots,  held  in  common  by  the  original  proprietors,  were 
called.  Marble  and  limestone,  also  abundant  in  many  localities, 
were  not  universally  distributed.  It  was  therefore  provided  in 
the  deed  of  the  forty  lots  that  the  settlers  "should  have  free  right 
to  cut  wood,  dig  stone,  and  carry  away  the  same  from  any  part 
of  the  township,  sufficient  for  building,  fencing,  and  fuel."  After- 
wards, it  was  one  of  the  grievances  complained  of  by  The  Planta- 
tion, that  Wendell's  and  Stoddard's  heirs  repudiated  this  portion  of 

1  See  Appendix  A,  regarding  the  values  of  Massachusetts  bills  of  credit.  The 
facts  concerning  the  dealings  of  Livingston  are  collected  chiefly  from  two  memo- 
rials sent  by  the  Pittsfield  settlers  to  the  Governor  and  General  Court, —  one  in 
1762,  now  preserved  in  the  Massachusetts  archives ;  the  other  in  1766,  found  among 
the  William  Williams  Papers. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  73 

their  solemn  indenture,  on  the  pretence  that  Livingston  had  not 
been  empowered  to  enter  into  any  such  agreement.  The  increas- 
ing value  of  pine-lands  perhaps  helped  them  to  the  conclusion. 

The  indenture  was  made  in  November,  1742  :  and  it  was  agreed 
that  each  of  the  grantees  should  begin  a  settlement  upon  his  home- 
lot  during  the  next  spring  or  summer,  and  continue  it,  unless  in 
the  mean  time  war  should  ensue  between  France  and  England ; 
in  which  case  the  settlement  was  to  be  commenced  within  one 
year  after  the  declaration  of  peace.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring 
of  1743,  their  lands  having  been  distributed  to  them  by  lot,  the 
pioneers  of  Pittsfield  promptly  took  possession  of  the  spot  where 
they  hoped  soon  to  welcome  their  young  wives  to  homes,  which,  i 
if  not  free  from  danger  and  discomfort,  were  such  as  those  in 
which  their  mothers,  through  much  love  and  high  resolve,  had 
braved  the  terrors  of  the  old  frontier.  Most  of  the  forty  were 
young  men;  and,  with  many,  the  marriage-day  waited  only  the 
promised  home  in  the  wilderness.  We  may  imagine  with  what 
forms  the  fancy  of  the  stout-hearted  pioneers  peopled  the  changing 
scene,  as,  with  strong  arm  and  ringing  axe,  they  attacked  the 
fastnesses  of  the  forest  in  that  half-hopeful  summer  of  1743. 
Half  hopeful :  for  anxious  forebodings  must  have  continually  op- 
pressed the  workers ;  knowing,  as  they  did,  the  disturbed  state 
of  Europe,  and  that  the  intrigues  of  the  Stuarts  (name  of  ill 
omen  to  Massachusetts,  even  though  those  who  bore  it  no  longer 
ruled),  favored  by  circumstances,  were  likely  at  any  moment 
to  embroil  France  and  England.  In  the  fall,  came  closer  fore- 
shadowing of  evil.  Word  was  sent  by  Col.  Stoddard  that  hos- 
tilities were  immediately  imminent ;  and,  taught  by  the  sad 
experience  of  former  wars  that  the  first  intimation  of  their  actual 
existence  might  come  from  the  war-whoop  of  Canadian  savages 
surrounding  their  clearing  at  midnight,  the  pioneers  abandoned 
their  labors,  not  to  resume  them  for  five  tedious  years.  It  was 
the  old  story,  —  the  ambitions  of  corrupt  courts  and  powerful  capi- 
tals working  woe  in  the  most  insignificant  and  remote  corners  of 
their  vast  empires. 

There  is  no  absolute  certainty  as  to  the  names  of  those  who 
took  part  in  this  first  attempt  to  plant  a  settlement  at  Poontoosuck ; 
although  it  seems  clear  that  a  majority  of  those  who  engaged  in 
the  second  essay  also  took  part  in  the  first.  But,  between  1744 
and  1748,  many  of  the  pioneers  doubtless  enlisted  in  the  military 


74  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

expeditions  to  which  Massachusetts  contributed  so  liberally ;  and, 
in  those  peculiarly  exhausting  campaigns,  some  must  have  fallen 
by  disease  or  in  battle.  Others  relinquished  their  purpose  of 
settling  at  Poontoosuck  in  the  five  years  which  elapsed  before 
another  effort  could  be  made  to  carry  it  out. 

Only  a  few  of  the  deeds  from  Huston,  Lee,  and  Root  can  now 
be  found  either  in  the  original  copies,  or  in  the  registry  at  Spring- 
field. One  of  these  conveys  to  Samuel  Root,  jun.,  of  Westfield,  Lot 
No.  5,  South,  to  which  his  son  Oliver  —  the  major  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame  —  succeeded,  Mr.  Root  dying  before  he  could  carry 
out  his  intention  of  removing  to  Poontoosuck.  David  Mosely, 
"gentleman,"  got  Lot. No.  7;  Aaron  Dewey,  8 ;  Hezekiah  Jones, 
19 ;  John  Tremain,  29,  —  all  in  class  South  —  the  consideration  in 
~  each  case  being  £30.  The  grantees  also  severally  bound  them- 
selves each  to  perform  his  proportionate  part  of  the  obligations 
which  had  been  assumed  by  the  grantors,  and,  specifically,  to 
begin  settlements  upon  their  respective  lots  in  the  spring  or 
summer  of  1743,  —  with  the  war  proviso,  as  in  the  Livingston  in- 
denture; to  continue  the  same  in  such  manner,  that,  at  the  end 
of  two  years,  there  should  be  a  dwelling-house,  and  family  living 
in  it,  upon  each  lot,  and  to  keep  possession  by  similar  occupancy 
for  at  least  the  two  years  next  succeeding. 

The  half-forgotten  story  of  the  first  brief  intrusion  of  civilized 
life  into  the  red  man's  Poontoosuck  is  peculiarly  alluring  to  the 
pen  of  the  chronicler.  Nor  will  it  be  uninstructive,  if,  in  the  best 
light  which  we  can  get,  we  seek  to  portray  the  township  as  it 
appeared  to  those  who,  before  "the  old  French  wars,"  were 
striving  with  busy  axe,  and  musket  near  at  hand,  to  prepare  in  its 
wilds  a  home  for  those  scarcely  less  hardy  —  certainly  not  less 
brave  —  than  themselves. 

If,  from  some  neighboring  mountain-top,  the  pioneer,  as  he 
approached,  gained  a  view  of  the  amphitheatre  which  lay  below, 
the  scene  was  one  to  enchant  even  the  most  prosaic  heart.  All 
the  minor  irregularities,  all  the  sharper  angles,  were  softened  and 
rounded  by  an  enamel  of  forest,  in  which  were  embossed  the 
rolling  outlines  of  hill  and  valley.  The  landscape,  stretching 
through  a  range  of  fifty  miles,  presented,  until  all  other  hues  were 
lost  in  the  blue  of  distance,  the  unbroken  green  of  waving  tree- 
tops, —  save  where,  through  a  few  chance  openings,  the  Housatonic 
flashed  back  the  sunlight,  or  some  shimmering  glimpse  of  lakelet 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  75 

revealed  its  lonely  surface,  upon  Avhich,  perhaps,  still  lingered  the 
graceful  bark  of  a  wandering  Mohegan.  At  intervals,  in  the 
sea  of  green,  a  spot  of  darker  verdure,  where  the  boughs  stirred 
more  stiffly  to  the  breeze,  betrayed  the  lurking-places  of  the  gloomy 
and  frequent  hemlock-swamps.  Around  the  southern  borders  of 
Lake  Shoonkeekmoonkeek,  and  on  some  of  the  Taconic  hills, 
glowed  those  noble  groves  of  pine  whose  fame,  attested  by  a  few 
not  unworthy  relics,  remains  to  this  day.  Elsewhere  the  practised 
eye  of  the  woodsman  recognized  the  maple,  the  elm',  the  beech,  the 
birch,  the  linden,  the  hickory,  the  chestnut,  the  red  (and  infre- 
quently the  white)  oak,  the  cherry,  the  ash,  the  larch,  the  fir,  the 
spruce,  and  every  tribe  of  New-England  forestry  except  the  cedar, 
whose  spicy  aroma  never  mingles  with  the  odors  of  our  groves. 

Thus  the  scene  must  have  burst  upon  the  pioneer,  as,  with 
hope's  elastic  step,  he  approached  it  in  leafy  June.  How  much 
more  glowingly  it  lay  outstretched,  as,  sick  at  heart  with  hope's 
deferment,  he  turned  away  from  it  in  many-colored  October ! 

As  he  descended  the  mountain-side  by  TJnkamet's  Road,  or  such 
other  rude  path  as  might  offer,  it  would  have  been  strange  had  his 
ear  not  been  greeted  by  the  growl  of  the  bear,  the  howl  of  the 
wolf,  or  the  cries  of  the  lynx 1  and  the  loup-cervier ; 2  for  all  these 
had  their  dens  among  the  tumbled  rocks  of  the  neighboring 
ravines. 

As  he  proceeded,  he  might  have  caught  a  vanishing  glimpse  of  a 
fox's  brush,  or  the  bristling  quills  of  a  porcupine.  He  was  pretty  sure 
to  startle  a  brace  of  rabbits,  and  send  a  woodchuck  burrowing  to 
his  hole ;  while  squirrels  —  red,  black,  gray,  and  striped  —  gambolled 
by  scores  up  and  down  the  shaggy  sides  of  the  great  trees.  The 
skunk  made  his  presence  known  ;  and  perhaps  a  raccoon,  on  some 
fallen  mossy  trunk,  challenged  a  shot  from  the  ever-ready  firelock. 
But  that,  no  doubt,  the  marksman  would  have  reserved  for  the 
moose  which  might  presently  peer  at  him  from  the  recesses  of  the 
forest,  the  deer  that  was  almost  sure  to  dash  across  his  path,  or 
the  wild  turkey  stalking  among  the  ferns.  Above  him,  the  eagle 
and  the  hawk  swept  in  dizzy  circles.  From  the  dank  borders  of  the 
lake,  the  shrill  scream  of  the  loon  and  the  harsh  note  of  the  heron 
saluted  him.  The  black  duck  swung  upon  the  still  waters ;  and 
possibly  a  sea-gull,  which  had  wandered  inland  with  the  mist  of  the 

1  The  Bay-lynx,  or  American  wildcat.  2  The  Canadian  lynx. 


76  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Sound,  dipped  its  white  wing  along  their  surface.  All  the  feathered 
host  which,  with  bright  hues  or  melodious  song,  make  glad  New- 
England  woods,  fluttered  among  the  overhanging  branches.1 

On  every  side  resounded  the  drumming  and  the  whirr  of  the 
grouse,2  to  be  succeeded  at  nightfall  by  the  complainings  of  the 
whip-poor-will,  the  solemn  to-whoo  of  the  great  white  owl,  and  the 
dismal  screech  of  his  ill-omened  cousin,  prophetic  of  St.  FranQois 
war-whoops. 

But  while  some  harmless  striped  or  green  snake  may  have 
glided  across  his  path,  or  the  black  (now  long  since  extermi- 
nated) have  lain  coiled  near  by,  or  perhaps  the  milk-adder  lurked 
in  the  under-brush,  the  wayfarer  listened  in  vain  for  the  warning 
rattle  of  the  dread  of  New-England  fields,  against  which  the  soil 
of  Northern  Berkshire  is  charmed,  by  the  prevailing  virtues  of  the 
ash-tree,  as  the  popular  faith  avers. 

All  the  denizens  of  the  Green-Mountain  forests,  save  the  rattle- 
snake, might  thus  have  come  to  salute  or  dismay  the  stranger, 
who,  in  a  little  while,  was  to  usurp  their  ancient  domain.  His 
reception,  however,  was  likely  to  be  less  tumultuous.  The  more 
conspicuous  members  of  the  forest-guild  may,  indeed,  have  absented 
themselves  entirely  from  the  assemblage ;  for"  sometimes,  although 
the  wood  was  populous  with  game,  even  the  skilled  Indian  hunter, 
familiar  with  all  its  haunts,  sought  it  in  vain,  and  went  supperless 
to  his  bed  of  turf,  which  perhaps  might  nevertheless,  at  the  very 
moment,  be  indented  with  the  foot-prints  of  a  hundred  deer.  The 
scout  found  his  only  trusted  commissariat  in  a  bag  of  pounded 
corn ;  and  the  commanders  of  outposts  in  deer-forests,  acknowl- 
edging gratefully  the  receipt  of  a  dried  codfish,  complained  that 
it  was  impossible  to  obtain  meat  in  their  vicinity.  When  one  reads 
of  "  a  country  swarming  with  game,"  it  is  necessary  to  remember 
that  nevertheless  it  may  oftentimes  be  hard  to  corne  at,  and  that 
hunting  is  always  a  precarious  mode  of  subsistence,  even  for  a 
savage. 

Still,  all  that  we  have  suggested  might  have  occurred  to  the 
pioneer,  as,  descending  from  the  Iloosac  Mountains,  he  trudged  to 

1  Mr.  James   H.   Butler,  in  1867,  made  a  collection  embracing  more  than  one 
hundred  varieties  of  the  smaller  birds  which  inhabit  the  woods  and  fields  of  Pitts- 
field,  —  some  of  them  of  brilliant  plumage,  and  others  of  exquisite  grace  of  form. 
2  The  ruffed  grouse,  invariably  but  erroneously  called  by  New-Englanders  the 
partridge,  the  name  of  a  species  of  pheasant  not  native  to  this  region. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  77 

his  claim,  perhaps  beyond  Lake  Onota;  and  doubtless,  in  his 
camp  of  logs,  he  often  welcomed  to  a  savory  meal  of  game  the 
Dutch  fur-trader,  the.  Eastern  surveyor,  or  the  messenger  who  bore, 
between  Boston  and  Albany,  intelligence  of  French  and  Spanish 
movements,  and  propositions  for  mutual  defence  in  the  fore- 
shadowed troubles.  News  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  were  eagerly 
discussed  over  plentiful  viands  supplied  by  the  neighboring  hunt- 
ing-grounds. 

If  Unkamet's  Road  passed  —  where  the  favorable  nature  of 
the  ground  invited  it  —  along  the  northern  verges  of  Goodrich, 
Silver,  and  Onota  Lakes,  and  directly  from  base  to  base  of  the 
opposing  mountains,  it  afforded  a  path,  which,  although  narrow,  was 
free  from  any  serious  obstacles.  But  if  the  pioneer  bent  his  course 
south  of  the  lakes,  by  the  road  —  now  East  and  West  Streets  — 
laid  out  by  the  surveyor,  traversing  the  whole  range  of  the  settling- 
lots,  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  struggle  through  no  less  than 
five  swamps,  which,  uninviting  as  they  appeared  from  the  mountain- 
top,  were  still  more  repulsive  upon  nearer  acquaintance.  But,  fre- 
quent and  inconveniently  located  as  these  sloughs  were,  they  did 
not  cover  a  very  large  portion  of  the  surface ;  and  some  of  them  after- 
wards became  valuable  meadow-land.  The  pioneer,  if  he  were  for- 
tunate in  his  guidance,  was  able  to  avoid  them  by  winding  paths  of 
no  very  violent  detour ;  and,  in  doing  so,  he  came  upon  rich,  loamy 
uplands  inviting  the  plough;  lawnlike  openings,  suggestive  of  cot- 
tage homes ;  and  meadows  weary  of  waiting  for  the  English  grass 
prescribed  by  The  Great  and  General  Court.  The  richer  soils  were 
found  covered  with  massive  maples,  huge  oaks,  and  spreading 
beeches ;  the  thinner,  with  gigantic  pines,  enormous  trunks,  fit  to 
intimidate  even  the  sturdiest  logger.  Except  in  the  case  of  the  pine, 
or  where  individual  trees  of  other  species  were  specially  adapted  to, 
or  convenient  for,  the  purposes  of  building  or  fencing,  the  settlers 
were,  indeed,  not  accustomed  to  attempt  these  monsters  of  the  forest 
by  fellage  with  the  axe,  but  by  the  slower  process  of  girdling  and 
burning. x  The  pioneers  at  Poontoosuck  in  1743  spent  the  summer 

1  Removing  a  circlet  of  bark  around  the  tree,  so  as  to  interrupt  the  ascent  of  the 
sap.  The  tree  thus  became  dry  and  ready  for  the  fire,  which  was  generally  applied 
to  it  at  the  end  of  twelve  months.  This  process  was  only  less  laborious  than 
fellage  with  the  axe ;  it  being  necessary  to  collect  the  fragments  of  the  fallen  trunks 
in  piles,  heap  brushwood  and  other  lighter  fuel  about  them,  and  repeat  the  burning 
until  all  was  consumed,  —  leaving,  however,  a  ghastly  array  of  stumps,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  by  time. 


78  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

in  the  preliminary  labor  of  girdling ;  but,  for  six  dreary  years  fol- 
lowing, the  dead  trees  spread  their  leafless  limbs  above  the  young, 
green  boles,  and  no  man  came  to  apply  the  torch. 

The  interval  was,  however,  not  without  events  of  interest  to 
the  embryo  plantation.  In  1746,  the  enemy  pressed,  more  cruelly 
than  in  any  other  year  of  the  war,  upon  the  frontiers  of  the  Province  ; 
but,  in  that  year,  Capt.  Huston  sold  the  three  lots  given  him  by 
Livingston  —  viz.,  No.  12,  North,  called  the  "  mill-lot,"  between 
what  is  now  Onota  Street  and  the  river  —  to  Zebediah  Stiles,  for 
£40 ;  No.  16,  South,  to  Eldad  Taylor,  gentleman,  for  £57  ;  No.  2, 
South,  to  Thomas  Noble,  saddler,  for  £49,  —  the  purchasers  all 
being  described  as  of  Westfield,  and  the  conveyancer  in  each  case 
contriving  to  spell  the  name  of  the  plantation,  Puntusick.  The 
apparent  advance  in  prices  must  be  attributed,  not  to  an  increase 
in  the  market  value  of  the  lands,  but  to  the  depreciation  of  the 
currency. 

But  the  event,  among  these  early  movements  towards  a  settle- 
ment, of  the  most  moment  to  the  after-fortunes  of  the  plantation, 
was  the  connection  with  them  of  William  Williams,  who,  from  that 
time  until  the  Revolution,  was  the  most  prominent  personage  in 
the  place,  holding  the  most  important  offices  in  town  and  county ; 
sometimes  being  at  once  chief  justice  of  the  common  pleas,  judge 
of  probate,  colonel  of  militia,  representative,  selectman,  assessor, 
moderator  of  town-meeting,  clerk,  and  hog-reeve,  besides  serving 
upon  several  committees.  He  was  the  son  of  William  Williams,  a 
successful  pastor  at  Weston,  and  grandson  of  the  eminent  divine  of 
the  same  name  who  was  ordained  at  Hatfield  in  1685.  Robert 
Williams,  the  founder  of  the  family  upon  this  continent,  was 
admitted  a  freeman  at  Roxbury  in  1638,  where  he  maintained 
a  respectable  position,  and  became  the  ancestor  of  the  long  array  of 
politicians,  soldiers,  and  divines  bearing  the  name  of  Williams, 
who  flourished  especially  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
periods  of  our  history.  His  son  Isaac,  the  father  of  the  Hatfield 
minister,  was  of  some  local  prominence,  and  represented  Newton 
in  the  General  Court.  William  of  Hatfield  first  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  distinguished  theologian,  Dr.  Cotton,  from  whom  the 
Pittsfield  settler  thus  traced  his  descent.  For  his  second  spouse, 
the  gallant  old  divine  succeeded  in  winning  the  younger  sister  of 
his  son's  (the  Weston  minister)  wife,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
another  noted  theological  controversalist,  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard, 


HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  79 

and  sister  of  the  colonel  of  multitudinous  public  service.  Wil- 
liam, of  Pittsfield,  who  thus  piqued  himself  upon  a  very  reverend 
and  honorable  ancestry,  was  born  at  Weston  in  1711,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  College  in  1729,  as  his  father  before  him  had  done 
in  1705,  and  his  grandfather  in  1683.  In  college,  from  a  liberal 
spirit  and  a  meagre  allowance  of  means,  he  formed  a  habit  of 
anticipating  his  income,  which  clung  to  and  cruelly  embarrassed 
him  through  life.  After  graduation,  he  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  medicine  ;  but,  having  commenced  practice,  he  abandoned  it  "  as 
by  no  means  consonant  with  his  genius."  l 

While  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  he  married  Miriam  Tyler, 
a  daughter  of  an  old  Boston  family,  and  a  lady  "  of  good  sense, " 
whose  memory  he  appears  never  to  have  ceased  to  cherish.  By 
the  aid  of  his  wife's  friends,  he  established  himself  in  mercantile 
business  at  Boston.  This  enterprise  failing,  Williams,  in  1740, 
obtained  an  ensign's  commission  under  Gen.  Oglethorpe,  in  the 
unjust  and  unsuccessful  expedition  against  St.  Augustine.  The 
next  year,  he  took  part,  with  the  same  rank,  in  Admiral  Vernon's 
still  more  ill-fated  armament  against  Carthagena.  Like  others,  he 
was  led  into  this  disastrous  affair  by  the  promised  plunder  of  the 
rich  Spanish-American  cities;  but  he  was  fortunate  in  escaping 
with  life  from  the  yellow  fever,  which  ravaged  the  fleet  with  fear- 
ful malignancy :  and  he  gained  nothing  from  his  southern  adven- 
tures, except  an  ensign's  half-pay  on  the  retired  list  of  the  British 
army,  and  the  military  education  acquired  in  two  campaigns  under 
accomplished  officers. 

He  now  returned  to  Massachusetts,  where  his  abilities  commend- 
ed him  to  his  uncle,  Col.  Stoddard,  and  to  Col.  Wendell,  who,  in 
consideration  of  the  benefits  which  his  connection  with  it  would 
confer  upon  the  plantation  at  Poontoosuck,  entered,  m  1743,  intoj 
a  written  agreement  to  give  him  one  of  the  settling-lots,  not  dis- 
posed of  previously  by  Mr.  Livingston,  and  also  one  hundred  acres 

1  "  While  the  doctor  was  in  the  practice  of  physic,  a  person  who  had  been 
blind  from  infancy  applied  to  him  for  a  cure.  Dr.  Williams,  fertile  in  inventing, 
pulverized  a  small  quantity  of  a  stone  jar,  and  placed  it  on  the  eye  of  the  patient, 
which  soon  ate  off  the  film,  so  that  the  blind  man  received  his  sight.  This 
anecdote  we  have  mentioned  to  show  that  he  was  not  deficient  in  his  profession, 
and  that  he  did  not  despair  of  healing  the  wounds  and  infirmities  of  mankind, 
which,  to  common  minds,  seem  incurable."  —  BERKSHIRE  CHRONICLE,  published  at 
Pittsfield  in  1789. 


80  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

adjoining,  provided  that  he  would  settle  upon  the  lot  and  perform 
the  duties  attached  to  it. l 

Ensign  Williams  appears  to  have  visited  Poontoosuck  in  1743 ; 
but,  upon  the  breaking-out  of  the  war  in  the  following  spring,  he 
received  a  commission  in  Col.  Stoddard's  regiment  of  Hampshire 
militia,  and  was  detailed  to  construct  "the  line  of  forts 
between  the  Connecticut  and  Hudson  Rivers"  determined  upon  by 
the  General  Court,  and  located  by  their  commissioners;  viz., 
Fort  Shirley  at  Heath,  Fort  Pelham  at  Rowe,  and  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts at  Hoosac,  —  now  Adams,  —  near  the  present  Williams- 
town  line.  This  service  "he  performed  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Government,  being  promoted  major  while  the  work  was  in 
progress.  2 

In  the  spring  of  1745,  he  raised  a  company  from  among  the  men 
of  his  command  for  the  expedition  against  Louisburg ;  but  he  was 
not  permitted  to  accompany  it,  as  his  services  were  considered 
more  valuable  in  the  position  he  then  occupied.  In  June,  how- 
ever, re-enforcements  for  the  besieging  array  being  urgently  de- 
manded, "  an  express  was  sent  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
through  the  wilderness  to  Major  Williams,  at  Fort  Massachusetts," 
directing  him  to  repair  with  the  utmost  despatch  to  Boston, 
bringing  with  him  as  many  men  as  he  could  induce  to  enlist.  In 
six  days  he  reported  to  the  Governor  with  seventy-four  men,  and 
was  immediately  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighth 
Massachusetts  Regiment,  Col.  John  Choate ;  which  sailed  for  Cape 
Breton  on  the  23d  of  June.  Louisburg  capitulated  before  their 
arrival ;  but  the  regiment,  under  the  command  of  its  lieutenant- 
colonel, —  Col.  Choate  having  returned  home,  —  garrisoned  the 
place  till  the  following  spring. 

The  easy  success  of  Louisburg  revived  in  the  Colonies  the  long- 
deferred  hope  of  relieving  themselves,  by  the  conquest  of  Canada, 

1  Papers  in  the  T.  Colt  and  Lancton  Collections. 

2  This  service  has  been  ascribed  to  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  the  founder  of 
Williams  College;  but  I  have  before  me,  in  the  collection  of  Hon.  Thomas  Colt, 
the  memorials  of  Col.  William  Williams  to  the  commander-in-chief  and  the  General 
Court,  who  must  have  known  the  facts,  in  which  he  reminded  them  that  he  built 
the  works  in  question.     A  letter  to  Mr.  C.  Kilby,  a  relative  of  his  wife,  and  a  well- 
informed  Boston  merchant,  makes  the   same   statement,   which  is  further  cor- 
roborated by  other  papers  in  the  same  collection.     In  his  order  for  building  Fort 
Shirley,  he  was  directed  to  call  upon  the  company  of  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams  for 
aid. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  81 

from  a  constant  source  of  danger ;  and  a  grand  expedition  with 
that  object  was  at  once  set  on  foot.  But,  instead  of  the  promised 
English  naval  contingent,  the  most  powerful  French  fleet  which 
bad  ever  floated  in  American  waters  appeared  off  the  coast  of 
Nova  Scotia,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  D'Anville ;  and  the 
Colonial  plans  for  invasion  were  transformed  with  haste  and 
trepidation  to  measures  of  defence.  It  was  apprehended  that 
Massachusetts  would  be  assailed  simultaneously  on  her  coast  and 
her  north-western  frontier;  and,  while  a  large  force  was  collected 
for  the  protection  of  Boston  and  other  seaports,  smaller  corps 
watched,  and  attempted  to  guard,  the  other  extremity  of  the 
Province. 

But,  in  this  as  in  every  hour  of  New  England's  peril,  He  who 
rides  upon  the  storm  and  guides  the  whirlwind  proved  her  surest 
helper.  The  September  gales  crippled  the  French  fleet ;  D'Anville 
died ;  his  successor  in  command  committed  suicide ;  and,  of  the 
proud  armament  which,  boastful  of  irresistible  might,  in  May  set 
sail  from  Brest,  only  a  shattered  remnant  crept  back  in  November, 
having  succeeded  only  in  postponing  the  fate  of  Canada. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  continual  incursions  of  French  and 
Indian  marauders  harassed  the  northern  settlements.  Fort  Mas- 
sachusetts was,  in  August,  captured  and  destroyed ;  Deerfield 
again  suffered  massacre ;  and  prowling  bands  of  St.  Fran9ois 
savages  infested  all  Upper  Hampshire. l 

The  officer  highest  in  rank  in  Western  Massachusetts  was  Brig.- 
Gen.  Joseph  Dwight  of  Brookfield, 2  who  had  served  with  great 
credit  at  Louisburg,  and,  returning  home  at  the  close  of  the  siege, 
had  raised  a  regiment,  principally  from  the  Connecticut  Valley,  for 
the  expedition  against  Canada.  To  this  corps  —  of  which  Gen. 
Dwight,  in  accordance  with  a  custom  of  the  army,  was  the  titular, 
and  when  not  on  actual  brigade-duty  the  acting  colonel  —  Lieut.- 
Col.  Williams  was  assigned.  It  had  been  recruited  for  special 
service  in  the  proposed  campaign ;  but,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
both  officers  and  men,  it  was  ordered  to  other  duties,  not  only  in 
the  exigency  of  the  D'Anville  alarm,  but  subsequently.  Early  in 

1  Until  1761,  the  present  Hampshire,  Berkshire,  Hampden,  and  Franklin  were 
all  included  in  the  old  county  of  Hampshire. 

2  Gen.  Dwight  removed,  about  1756,  to  Great  Barrington ;  but  he  had  a  tem- 
porary residence  at  Stockbridge  in  1752,  where  he  was  addressed  in  the  petition 
from  Poomoosuck,  requesting  him  to  call  the  first  meeting  of  the  plantation. 


82  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

October,  when  the  coming  of  the  hostile  fleet  was  announced, 
"  five  companies  were  sent  to  Boston,  and  five  to  the  most  exposed 
western  frontier;"  but,  intelligence  of  the  disasters  to  the  enemy 
arriving  soon  after,  the  regiment  was  re-united  in  Northwestern 
Hampshire,  where  it  was  employed  during  the  winter  in  detached 
parties,  scouting,  garrisoning  the  block-houses,  creating  new 
defences,  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  rallying  to  the 
support  of  threatened  outposts,  and  in  every  way  guarding  the 
endangered  section. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1746,  Massachusetts  and  New  York  resumed 
their  preparations  against  Canada,  and,  undeterred  by  the  near 
approach  of  winter,  began  to  concentrate  men  and  munitions 
of  war  at  Albany ;  but  the  more  cautious  counsels  of  Connecticut 
prevailed,  and  the  expedition  was  given  over,  as  the  event  proved, 
for  that  war. 

The  Massachusetts  troops  were,  however,  still  kept  under  pay ; 
and,  on  the  21st  of  April,  Gen.  Dwight  assigned  to  Col.  Williams 
three  companies  and  part  of  a  third  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding 
Fort  Massachusetts,  adding,  "  I  suppose  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams 
will  send  all  or  part  of  his,  if  you  desire  it,  who,  I  think,  ought  to 
do  their  part  of  this  duty."  The  rebuilding  of  the  fort  was  by 
order  of  the  General  Court,  and  under  the  direction  of  a  commis- 
sion appointed  for  that  purpose,  consisting  of  Cols.  Stoddard  and 
Porter,  and  Oliver  Partridge,  Esq.  The  Indians  made  some  at- 
tempts to  impede  the  work,  amounting,  in  one  instance,  to  a  not 
very  spirited  skirmish  ;  but,  by  the  2d  of  June,  it  Avas  completed, 
and  the  command  transferred  by  the  following  order  : l  — 

FORT  MASSACHUSETTS,  June  2, 1747. 
Major  EPIIRAIM  WILLIAMS. 

Sir,  —  Intending,  by  the  leave  of  Providence,  to  depart  this  fort  to-morrow, 
which,  through  the  goodness  of  God  towards  us  is  now  finished,  I  must 
desire  you  to  take  the  charge  of  it ;  and  shall,  for  the  present,  leave  with  you 
eighty  men,  which  I  would  have  you  detain  here  till  the  barracks  are  erected, 
which  I  would  have  you  build  in  the  following  manner,  viz.,  seventy  feet  in 
length,  thirty  in  breadth,  seven-feet  post,  with  a  low  roof.  Let  it  be  placed 
within  five  feet  of  the  north  side  of  the  fort,  and  at  equal  distances  from  the 
east  and  west  ends. 

Let  it  be  divided  in  the  middle  with  a  tier  of  timber ;  place  a  chimney  in 
the  centre  of  the  east  part,  with  two  fire-places  to  accommodate  those  rooms. 
In  the  west  part,  place  the  chimney  so  as  to  accommodate  the  two  rooms  on 

1  Lancton  Col. 


HISTORY  OF  PTTTSFIELD.  83 

that  part,  as  if  the  house  was  but  twenty  feet  wide  from  the  south ;  making  a 
partition  of  plank,  ten  feet  distance  from  the  north  side  of  the  barrack,  for 
a  storeroom  for  the  provisions,  &c. 

The  timber,  stone,  clay,  lath,  and  all  materials,  being  under  the  command 
of  your  guns,  I  can't  but  look  upon  you  safe  in  your  business,  and  desire  you 
to  see  every  thing  finished  workmanlike ;  and,  when  you  have  so  done,  you'll 
be  pleased  to  dismiss  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  with  his  men,  and  what  of  my 
company  I  leave.  You'll  not  forget  to  keep  a  scout  east  and  west,  which  the 
men  of  your  company  are  so  well  adapted  for,  and  can  be  of  very  little 
service  to  you  in  the  works. 

Sir,  I  shall  not  give  you  any  particular  directions  about  maintaining  the 
strong  fortress  or  governing  your  men,  but,  in  general,  advise  you  always 
to  be  on  your  guard,  nor  suffer  any  idle  fellows  to  stroll  about.  Sir,  I 
heartily  wish  you  health,  the  protection  and  smiles  of  Heaven  on  all  accounts, 
and  am,  with  esteem  and  regard,  sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant,1 


Gen.  Dwight's  regiment  was  broken  up  Oct.  31,  1747 ;  and  it 
appears  that  Col.  Williams  had  previously  secured  an  appointment 
as  sub-commissary,1  which,  as  more  lucrative,  he  preferred  to  the 
command  of  Fort  Massachusetts,  for  which  he  was  also  named. 
But  his  inveterate  ill-fortune  in  pecuniary  matters  continued  to 
pursue  him,  and  even  as  a  quartermaster  he  failed  to  make  money. 
The  military  profession,  indeed,  proved  to  him  as  barren  of  sub- 
stantial profit  as  the  medical  and  the  mercantile  had  been.  He 
complained,  that,  for  his  services  "  as  commander  and  inspector  in 
building  the  line  of  forts  from  Northfield  to  Hoosac,  he  received 
only  eight  pounds  per  month,  Old  Tenor;"  that,  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  commanding  a  regiment  in  the  Louisburg  garrison,  his  pay 
had  been  less  than  what  a  captain  was  afterwards  allowed,  —  "  the 
miserable  Province  pittance,  not  enough  to  buy  a  cabbage  a  day  in 
that  dear  place ; "  and  that  his  salary  as  commissary  was  so  long 
in  arrears  that  he  was  obliged  to  borrow  £1400,  for  twelve  months, 
of  Col.  Stoddard  and  Moses  Graves.  He  did  not,  however,  rest 
quiet  under  this  ill-requital  of  his  public  labors,  but  was  often  at 

!  The  major  to  whom  the  command  was  thus  transferred  was  the  founder  of 
Williams  College.  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  to  whom  allusion  is  made  by  both 
Gen.  Dwight  and  Col.  Williams,  was  probably  a  Connecticut  officer  in  command 
of  one  of  the  companies  sent  by  his  colony  in  aid  of  the  common  defence. 

2  He  seems  to  have  received  his  appointment  as  early  as  February,  1747,  but 
not  to  have  entered  upon  its  duties  until  his  regiment  was  disbanded. 


84  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Boston  in  the  intervals  afforded  by  his  military  duties,  engaged, 
with  other  officers  of  the  Louisburg  expedition,  in  pressing  their 
claims  upon  the  consideration  of  the  British  Government  through 
correspondents  and  agents  in  London.  The  matter  lingered  long, 
and  was  never  determined  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  officers,  who 
finally,  in  individual  instances  at  least,  appealed  with  no  better 
success  to  the  General  Court. 

Such  was  the  story  of  that  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Pittsfield 
who  had  the  best  opportunity  to  make  a  subsistence  as  a  soldier 
during  the  interruption  of  the  plantation  by  the  war  which  closed 
with  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  the  summer  of  1748.  How  it 
fared  with  those  who  enlisted  in  the  ranks  may  be  inferred  from 
the  following  extract  from  a  representation  made  to  Gen.  Dwight 
by  the  captains  of  his  regiment  in  behalf  of  the  private  soldiers,  at 
the  close  of  their  term  of  service.  After  reciting  other  "  particulars 
in  which  they  conceived  themselves  injured,"  the  memorial  pro- 
ceeds :  — 

"  In  regard  to  their  pay :  as  these  levies  were  raised  for  a  particular 
expedition,  they  expected,  as  according  to  proclamation,  to  receive  the 
King's  pay;  so,  as  they  were  marching  forces,  6d.  per  day,  clear  of  any 
stoppages.  But,  by  his  Excellency's  letter,  they  perceive  they  are  to  be  paid 
as  garrison-soldiers  at  the  very  lowest  establishment  in  the  nation,  which  is 
very  distressing  to  them ;  many,  of  them  having  been  obliged  to  expend 
much  more  for  clothing  since  they  have  been  enlisted  in  said  service  than 
the  amount  of  their  pay,  and  must  return  to  then-  families  without  any  thing 
for  their  relief  and  support,  and,  indeed,  without  a  penny  in  their  pockets 
to  carry  them  home,  after  having  marched  hundreds  of  miles  at  their  own  or 
their  officers'  expense,  in  obedience  to  your  orders." l 

1  The  story  narrated  in  the  preceding  pages,  so  far  as  it  is  of  a  local  character, 
is  collected  from  original  letters,  orders,  and  memorials  in  the  T.  C.  and  L.  Col- 
lections. 


CHAPTER   IY. 

PERMANENT    SETTLEMENT. 
[1749-1754.] 

Return  of  the  Pioneers.  —  The  First  White  Woman  in  Poontoosuck,  and  her 
Trials.  —  David  Bush.  —  Nathaniel  Fairfield.  —  Alone  in  the  Woods.  —  A  Bridal 
Tour  in  1752.  —  Zebediah  Stiles.  —  Charles  Goodrich.  —  Partition  of  the  Com- 
mons made  and  annulled.  —  Cgl.  Williams  settles  on  Unkamet  Street.  —  His 
Property  there.  —  The  Plantation  organized.  —  Powers  of  Plantations.  —  Votes 
with  regard  to  Meeting-house,  Preaching,  Bridges,  and  Highways.  —  The  First 
Bridge  built.  —  Propositions  for  a  Saw  and  Grist  Mill. 


peace  introduced  by  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  al- 
_JL  though  brief  and  troubled,  enabled  the  settlers  of  Poontoo- 
suck to  gain  a  foothold  upon  its  soil,  which  was  never  afterwards 
wholly  relinquished.  Only  the  purchasers  of  the  forty  lots  sold  by 
Livingston  participated  in  the  abortive  labors  of  1745  ;  l  and 
these,  with  such  changes  as  time  had  wrought  among  them,  and 
joined  by  the  three  buyers  of  Huston's  gift,  returned  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1749,  to  "find  that  their  clearing  and  girdling  were  of  little 
or  no  advantage  to  them,  as  the  young  growth  had  covered  the 
ground  in  a  surprising  manner."  2 

In  the  same  year,  Col.  Stoddard  having  died  in  1748,  his  widow, 
Madame  Prudence,  was,  upon  the  petition  of  Col.  Wendell,  author- 
ized by  the  General  Court  to  act  for  her  minor  children  in  dispos- 
ing of  the  seventeen  "  rights  "  which  remained  unsold,  and  in 
all  nlatters  which  pertained  to  "  bringing  forward  the  settlement." 
In  June,  the  joint  proprietors  of  the  township,  who  now  by  in- 
heritance and  purchase  had  increased  to  thirteen,  appointed  Col. 
Oliver  Partridge  of  Hatfi|Jd  their  agent,  who  sold  several  lots; 

1  Mem.  of  Col.  Wendell,  Mass.  Ar.,  V.  cxv.  p.  504. 

2  Mem.  of  settlers  in  1762,  Mass.  Ar. 


86  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

among  which  were  two  to  David  Bush,  which  extended  from  South 
Street,  along  Honasada,  one  hundred  and  sixty  rods.  Jacob  En- 
sign, in  1752,  purchased  Lot  29,  North,  through  which  Beaver 
Street  now  runs.  Col.  Williams  received  by  gift  No.  31,  in  the 
same  range. 

Among  those  whom  tradition  points  out  as  engaged  in  the  set- 
tlement of  1749,  are  David  Bush,  Solomon  Deming,  Nathaniel 
Fairfield,  Gideon  Gunn,  Timothy  Cadwell,  David  Ashley,  and 
Samuel  Taylor.  So,  also,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  were  Daniel 
Hubbard,  Stephen  Crofoot,  Simeon  Crofoot,  Jesse  Sackett,  Josiah 
Wright,  Hezekiah  Jones,  Abner  and  Isaac  Dewey,  and  Elias 
Willard. 

By  these  pioneers,  and  others  whose  names  cannot  now  be 
ascertained,  the  busy  scenes  of  the  previous  occupation  were 
renewed,  with  chastened  hopes,  and  forebodings  yet  more  sombre 
than  had  haunted  them  six  years  before :  for  all  the  tidings 
which  reached  them  betokened  how  hollow  and  treacherous  was 
the  peace  which  had  been  patched  up  at  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  while 
they  well  knew  that  the  emissaries  of  France  were  tempting  the 
savages  of  their  own  neighborhood,  who  as  yet  gave  no  sufficient 
assurance  of  resisting  their  wiles.  Many  indeed,  even  of  the 
Mohegans,  found  delight  and  profit  in  enhancing  the  value  of 
their  alliance  with  the  English  by  exaggerating  their  inclination 
to  transfer  it  to  their  enemies. 

But  by  the  summer  of  1752,  which  is  usually  accounted  the 
birth-year  of  Pittsfield,  some  of  the  settlers  had  log-cabins  ready 
to  receive  their  families.  And  first  came  Solomon  Deming,  from 
Wethersfield,  with  his  wife  Sarah  behind  him  on  the  pillion.  She 
was  a  maiden  of  seventeen  when  Solomon  first  essayed  to  provide 
them  a  dwelling-place  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Green  Mountains. 
Now  a  brave  young  good-wife  of  twenty-six,  she  entered  Poon- 
toosuck,  the  first  white  woman  who  ever  called  it  home.1 

1  The  town  of  Pittsfield  has  erected  a  neat  obelisk  of  marble  to  the  memory  of 
Mrs.  Deming,  in  the  little  burial-ground  on  Honasada  Street,  near  the  spot 
where  she  fixed  her  home  in  1752.  The  following  inscriptions  embody  the  tradi- 
tions handed  down  regarding  her :  — 

SOUTH  SIDE.  —  This  monument  is  erected  by  the  town  of  Pittsfield  to  com- 
memorate the  heroism  and  virtues  of  its  first  feumle  settler,  and  the  mother  of  the 
first  white  child  born  within  its  limits. 

NORTH.  —  Surrounded  by  tribes  of  hostile  Indians,  she  defended,  in  more  than 


HISTORY   OF  P1TTSFIELD.  87 

Mr.  Dealing's  farm  was  on  the  north  side  of  Honnsada  Street, 
in  the  eastern  outskirts  of  the  township,  a  region  much  frequented 
by  the  Indians,  who  were  accustomed  to  make  themselves  a  terror 
and  an  annoyance  to  the  wives  of  the  settlers,  calling  at  their 
cabins  in  the  absence  of  the  men,  and,  with  insolent  threats, 
demanding  food  and  drink.  It  was  considered  impolitic,  in  the 
precarious  state  of  public  affairs,  to  offend  the  red  nuisances  by 
well-deserved  punishment ;  and  the  only  recourse  —  one  to  which 
only  the  bolder  dames  dared  resort — was  to  shut  and  bolt  the  door 
in  their  impudent  faces :  and  this  was  probably  the  extent  of  the 
defence  against  the  savages  commemorated  by  Mrs.  Deming's 
monument ;  for  nothing  more  serious  occurred  between  the  natives 
and  the  settlers,  except  in  a  single  instance. 

David  Bush,  a  native  of  Westfield,  where  his  ancestors  had  long 
resided,  purchased,  as  has  been  related,  the  two  lots,  16  and 
17  South.  He  was  one  of  the  more  "well-to-do"  settlers,  and 
was  the  first  to  commence  a  clearing  in  1749,  on  which  he  "  had 
cut  several  tons  of  hay  before  the  first  white  woman  came  to 
town."  The  honor  of  first  penetrating  the  soil  of  Pittsfield  with 
a  plough  is  claimed  both  for  Capt.  Bush  and  Nathaniel  Fairfield ; 
but,  as  is  the  case  with  most  claims  of  priority  based  upon  tradi- 
tion, there  is  nothing  to  determine  which  is  rightly  entitled  to  it, 
if  either  be.  Nathaniel  Fail-field's  early  connection  with  the  set- 
tlement is,  however,  sufficiently  noteworthy.  He  was  born  at 
Boston  in  1730 ;  and  his  father,  who  had  a  large  family,  having 
suffered  severe  pecuniary  losses,  he  was  adopted  by  a  Mr.  Dickin- 
son of  Westfield ;  but  in  1748,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  becoming 
impatient  to  seek  his  own  fortune,  although  w\ir  still  lingered  on 
the  border,  he  went  with  Dan  Cadwell l  to  examine  the  settling- 
lots  at  Poontoosuck,  and  probably  other  land  in  that  vicinity. 

one  instance,  unaided,  the  lives  and  property  of  her  family,  and  was  distinguished 
for  the  courage  and  fortitude  with  which  she  bore  the  dangers  and  privations  of  a 
pioneer  life. 

Sarah  Deming,  born  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  February,  1726.  Died  in  Pittsfield; 
March,  1818,  aged  92. 

EAST.  —  A  mother  of  the  Revolution  and  a  mother  in  Israel. 

WEST. —  Sarah  Deming,  born  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  Feb.,  1726.  Died  in 
Pittsfidd,  Mass.,  March,  1818,  aged  92  years. 

1  In  1745,  Amos  Root  had  sold  one  of  the  forty  lots  purchased  of  Livingston  to 
Dan  Cadwell,  whose  descendants  still  reside  upon  it,  and  retain  the  original 
deed  conveying  it  to  him. 


88  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Before  they  were  satisfied  with  their  exploration,  their  provisions 
gave  out,  and  Mr.  Cad  well  returned  to  Westfield  for  a  fresh  supply; 
leaving  young  Fairfield  for  three  nights  alone  in  the  forest,  as 
regarded  white  companions,  but  with  a  disagreeable  co-tenantry  of 
savages,  whose  unmusical  voices  he  heard  plainly  on  every  side  as 
he  lay  in  the  hollow  log  which  served  him  for  nightly  lodging,  and 
hiding-place  by  day.1 

As  a  result  of  this  exploration,  he  purchased  lot  No.  18  south, 
on  the  south-west  corner  of  Wendell  Square.2  Having  built  here 
his  log-cabin  and  opened  his  clearing,  Mr.  Fairfield  revisited  West- 
field,  and,  having  married  Miss  Judith ,  returned  in  1752,  with 

his  bride,  to  their  new  home.  On  this  bridal  tour,  the  story  of  which 
may  serve  for  that  of  many  that  were  made  by  the  fathers  and  moth- 
ers of  Pittsfield,  the  young  couple  were  accompanied  by  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  a  dray  bearing  their  household  goods ;  and,  pursuing  their 
way  by  the  aid  of  marked  trees,  they  reached  the  house  of  Solomon 
Dealing  on  the  third  evening,  and  there  passed  the  night.  The 
traveller  by  the  Western  Railroad  now  makes  the  same  journey 
in  less  than  two  hours ;  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that 
the  trip  of  the  Fairfields  proved  tedious.  The  region  through 
which  they  came  was  designated,  even  in  the  formal  descriptions 
of  the  conveyancer,  by  the  pleasant  name  of  "  the  green  woods 
between  Westfield  and  Poontoosuck ; "  and  perhaps  —  since  sum- 
mer days  are  very  genial  —  the  bridal  party  dallied  a  little  leisure- 
ly in  the  fragrant  shade. 

In  the  same  summer,  Zebediah  Stiles  found  companionship  in  a 
like  humble  home,  on  the  corner  of  West  and  Onota  Streets. 

Then,  also,  came  Charles  Goodrich,  "  driving  the  first  cart  and 
team  which  ever  entered  the  town,  and  cutting  his  way  through 
the  woods  for  a  number  of  miles."  It  is  of  tradition  that  he 
reached  the  last  of  the  Hoosac  summits  which  he  had  to  pass,  just 
at  nightfall ;  and,  fearful  of  missing  the  path  if  he  attempted  to 
proceed  in  the  dusk,  tied  his  horses  to  a  tree,  and  kept  guard 
over  them  all  night  against  the  wild  beasts,  walking  around  to 
prevent  himself  from  falling  asleep,  and  "  munching  "  an  apple,  his 
sole  remaining  ration,  for  supper.  Goodrich,  who  became  one  of 

1  Family  tradition. 

2  The  two  branches  of  the  Housatonic  River  form  their  junction  in  this  lot, 
which  lies  on  the  south  side  of  Honasada  street,  and  just  below  the  Pittsfield 
Cotton  Mills. 


PLAN    OP    1752. 


This  is  a  Plan  of  the  Township  of  Poontoosuck  as  it  was  taken  by  the  Com- 
mittee some  time  in  December,  1752. 

Test.  BEN.JA.  DAY,  Surveyor. 


A,  A  large  Mountain  the  line  ran  upon,  near 
half  way  from  the  settling-lots  to  the 
south-west  corner. 

/?,  A  large  Brook. 

C,  Yc  foot  of  the  Mountain. 

D,  The  top  of  the  Mountain. 

E,  A  small  Brook. 

F,  Foot  of  a  large  Mountain. 

G,  Yc  Road. 

H,  Stockbridge  Road. 


T,  The  River. 

K,  The  foot  of  the  Mountain. 

L,  The  corner  of  the  9,000  acres. 

M,  A  large  Brook. 

O,  Northampton  Road. 

P,  A  small  Brook. 

S,  The  River. 

X,  Mountain  Land  from  here  to  the  river. 

*  A  large  Pond. 


The  original  of  this  plan  is  in  the  archives  of  the  State  at  Boston,  and  a  copy 
in  the  Town  Clerk's  office  at  Pittsficld.  Some  of  the  minutiae  of  the  original  have 
been  omitted  by  the  engraver,  chiefly  relating  to  the  area  of  the  allotments  to  the 
several  proprietors. 

Framingbam  Pond  is  stated  on  the  plan  to  contain  186  acres.  Ashley's  Pond, 
now  Lake  Onota,  is  represented  as  containing  284  acres. 


H1STOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  89 

the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  the  history  of  the  town,  was  born 
at  Wethersfield  in  1720,  and  "  obtained  a  hope  "  says  his  epitaph, 
"under  Whitefield  in  1741."  He  was  the  first  man  of  considerable 
property  who  joined  the  settlement,  and  long  continued  the 
wealthiest  citizen  of  the  town,  as  well  as  one  of  those  most 
distinguished  for  enterprise  and  intellectual  ability.  Both  before 
and  after  his  removal  to  Poontoosuck,  he  dabbled  a  good  deal  in 
land  speculations,  and  had  large  interests  in  what  are  now 
Hancock  and  "Lanesborough.  In  June,  1752,  he  bought  of  Col. 
Wendell  "  one  third-of  his  one-third  part "  of  the  "  Commons,  or 
undivided  lands,"  of  Poontoosuck,  for  £473  7s.  4d.  And  being, 
unlike  the  other  proprietors  of  those  lands,  desirous  of  immediately 
enjoying  his  portion,  he  applied  to  the  next  September  term  of 
the  Superior  Court,  sitting  at  Springfield,  for  the  appointment  of 
commissioners  to  make  partition;  and  the  following  gentlemen  were 
accordingly  named  for  that  duty :  Timothy  Dwight,  Eldad  Taylor, 
David  Moseley,  Benjamin  Day,  and  Obadiah  Dickinson.  The 
lands  were  alloted  by  them  to  the  several  proprietors  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  here  given,  which  was  accepted  and  confirmed 
by  the  Court  at  its  next  session.  It  did  not,  however,  prove 
acceptable  to  Colonel  Wendell,  and  he  petitioned  the  General 
Court  that  it  might  be  annulled :  alleging  that  no  proper  notice  of 
the  proceedings  in  the  Court  at  Springfield  having  been  served 
upon  him,  his  only  knowledge  of  them  was  transient  and  acci- 
dental ;  that  only  four  out  of  the  five  gentlemen  named  by  the 
Court  had  acted  on  the  commission  ;  that  only  the  meadow-lands 
had  been  surveyed  by  them,  —  a  general  view  merely  being  taken 
of  the  uplands,  —  and  that,  in  part,  when  they  were  covered  with 
snow ;  and  that,  returning  home,  the  four  commissioners,  in  their 
winter  leisure,  set  out  the  allotments  to  the  several  proprietors, 
which  in  the  spring  were  surveyed  by  only  two  of  their  number,  as 
the  four  had  protracted  them  upon  the  plan.  He  considered, 
that,  if  any  justice  had  been  done  by  such  a  process,  it  must  have 
been  the  effect,  not  of  judgment  or  understanding,  but  of  accident ; 
which  accident  had  not  happened,  as  the  division  was  very  unjust 
and  unequal,  and  greatly  injurious  to  himself,  —  all  which  he  con- 
ceived would  appear  to  the  Court  from  an  inspection  of  the  plan. 

Notice  of  Col.  Wendell's  memorial  was  ordered  in  "  The  Week- 
ly Post-boy."  The  commissioners  responded,  that  —  the  law  re- 
quiring all  the  proprietors  to  be  notified  of  the  proceedings,  that 


90  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

they  might,  if  they  wished,  be  present  at  the  making  of  the  division 
—  they  sent  word  to  Col.  Wendell  and  Elisha  Jones,  by  Col. 
Partridge,  who  was  going  to  the  General  Court,  in  October ;  that, 
Mr.  Dickinson  being  unable  to  join  them,  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed without  him ;  that  they  "  had  obtained  an  exact  accompt  of 
the  upland,  and  the  situation  and  laying  of  the  meadow,  as  it  is 
interspersed  and  intermingled  among  the  upland;  and  examined, 
as  far  as  they  thought  needful,  the  quality  of  the  soil,  the  form  of 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  the  timber  growing  upon  it ; "  that 
the  subsequent  proceedings  were  properly  had,  and  the  commis- 
sioners unanimous  in  all  their  acts. 

The  General  Court  sustained  the  objections  of  Wendell,  and  in 
June,  1754,  resolved  that  the  partition  was,  "  of  course,  null  and 
void."1 

But  Goodrich  had  already  —  as  soon,  at  least,  as  the  partition 
was  confirmed  by  the  Superior  Court  —  built  upon  a  portion  of 
the  land  set  off  to  him,  which  now  forms  a  part  of  Hon.  Thomas 
Allen's  farm. 

Col.  Williams,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  wavered  in  his  intention 
of  settling  at  Poontoosuck ;  and  in  October,  1749,  obtained  from 
his  friend,  Gov.  Benuing  Weutworth  of  New  Hampshire,  an 
authorization 2  which  subsequently  resulted  in  the  grant  to  him 
and  sixty-three  other  persons  —  of  whom  nine  bore  the  name  of 
Williams  —  of  the  township  which  afterwards  became  Benning- 
ton  in  Vermont,  with  whose  fame  that  of  Pittsfield  is  so 
gloriously  associated  in  Revolutionary  story. 

But  in  November,  1752,  —  "Col.  Williams  having  already  been 
at  Poontoosuck  in  order  to  bring  forward  a  settlement,  and  intend- 
ing to  return  early  the  next  spring  to  reside  permanently  at  the 
place"  —  Madame  Stoddard  addressed  a  note8  to  "The  Hon. 
Timothy  Dwight  and  the  other  gentlemen  commissioners," 
desiring  them,  in  apportioning  her  share  of  the  township,  to  "  have 
respect  to  the  design  of  her  deceased  husband ;  that  his  kinsman, 
William  Williams,  settling  at  Poontoosuck,  should  have  one 
hundred  acres  of  his  lands  there." 

Through  the  agreement  thus  acknowledged,  —  Col.  Wendell 
afterwards  joining  in  the  gift,  as  he  had  joined  in  the  original 

1  Mass.  Ar.  v.  116,  p.  491.  »  T.  C.  C.  p.  86. 

3  Madame  Stoddard's  letter  in  Lancton  Col. 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  91 

promise,  —  Col.  Williams  finally  obtained  a  rectangular  tract,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  rods  in  area, 
lying  upon  Unkamet  Street,  west  of  the  meadow.1 

He  also  received  in  the  same  way  the  "  original  home-lot,"  No. 
31  north,  which  lay  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-fife  rods 
farther  west,  and  contained  some  valuable  meadow  and  upland. 
But  he  built  his  log-cabin,  and  commenced  his  clearing,  in  1753,  on 
the  north  side  of  Unkamet  Street,  and  not  far  from  the  river. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  1753,  a  petition  was  presented  in 
the  General  Court  "from  the  inhabitants  of  the  township  on  the 
Housatonick  River,  commonly  called  Poontoosuck," 2  setting  forth 
the  difficulties  they  were  under  in  bringing  forward  their  settle- 
ment, and  praying  for  directions  and  assistance.  In  response,  the 
Court  incorporated  them  as  a  plantation  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Proprietors  of  the  Settling-lots  in  the  Township  of  Poontoosuck," 
with  the  power  to  assess  and  collect  taxes,  but  only  upon  the 

1  Although  it  is  clear  that  Col.  "Williams  finally  obtained  this  Unkamet-street 
property  in  virtue  of  the  Wendell  and  Stoddard  promise  of  1743,  yet  some 
obscurity  rests  upon  the  intermediate  transactions.     The  tract  was  allotted  by  the 
commissioners  to  Wendell  and  the  heirs  of  Stoddard;  but  was  understood  "to  be 
and  belong  to  William  Williams, "  who  thus  recited  his  title  in  a  mortgage-deed 
of  1754.     This  title,  of  course,  failed  when  the  partition  upon  which  it  was  founded 
was  annulled.    But  conveyances  are  extant,  —  in  the  H.  C.  C.  and  the  Spring- 
field Registry,  —  which  indicate  that  agreements  regarding  tracts  in  the  vicinity 
of  Unkamet  Street,  made  among  the  joint  proprietors  previously,  were  carried 
into  effect  in  the  final  partition  of  the  Commons  in  1759-60.     Thus  Wendell  and 
Mrs.  Stoddard,  although  their  exclusive  title  to  the  lands  in  question  does  not 
appear  by  the  record  to  have  become  perfect  until  1760,  gave  a  deed  of  them, 
with  warranty,  to  Col.  Williams  in  1758  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  Charles  Goodrich 
sold  him  two  contiguous  acres  in  May,  1759. 

In  the  final  division  of  the  township,  as  in  the  first,  the  hundred  acres  were 
assigned  to  Wendell  and  the  heirs  of  Stoddard,  although  they  actually  became  the 
property  of  Williams ;  but  the  latter,  in  regard  to  some  undivided  right  which  he 
had  acquired  in  the  Commons,  obtained  —  besides  large  tracts  near  Poontoosuck 
Lake  —  a  narrow  strip  containing  twenty-five  acres,  and  lying  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  L,  on  the  nqrth  and  west  sides  of  the  Unkamet-street  property,  and  also  a 
straight  strip  of  sixteen  acres  on  the  south  of  it. 

The  apparently  detached  location  and  inconvenient  shape  of  Col.  Williams's 
lands,  as  exhibited  by  the  plan  of  1759,  are  thus  explained  by  the  fact,  that  he 
realty  owned  the  intervening  lands  as  well.  The  allotment  of  the  one  hundred 
acres  jointly  to  Wendell  and  Stoddard —  the  only  instance  upon  the  plan  in  which 
they  are  joined  —  is  also  thus  made  clear. 

2  It  was  also  often  styled  Wendell,  or  Wendell's  Town,  and  sometimes  Wendell 
and  Stoddard's  Town. 


92  HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

sixty  settling-lots;  excluding  the  lands  reserved  for  the  first 
minister,  for  the  perpetual  support  of  the  ministry,  and  for  schools, 
as  well  as  the  "  Commons." 

Plantations,  under  the  old  statutes,  although  embryo  towns, 
yet,  i»  their  powers  and  duties,  resembled  private  more  nearly 
than  municipal  corporations.1  The  officers  which  they  chose 
were  only  a  moderator,  a  clerk,  a  treasurer,  a  collector,  and  asses- 
sors. And  they  were  simply  empowered,  through  these  agents,  to 
assess  and  collect  province,  county,  and  plantation  taxes ;  appro- 
priating the  last  to  fulfil  the  conditions  upon  which  they  held 
their  lands,  and  to  make  such  improvements  in  building  bridges, 
making  highways,  and  the  like,  as,  by  "  bringing  forward  the  settle- 
ment," would  enhance  the  common  value  of  the  home-lots. 

Any  community  of  Massachusetts  men,  associated  as  the  people 
of  Poontoosuck  were,  would  certainly  have  united,  if  it  became 
expedient,  in  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  public  morals* 
and  the  promotion  of  the  general  safety  or  comfort ;  and  they 
would  have  been  likely  to  resolve  upon  them  in  Proprietors'  meet- 
ing. But  the  statute  gave  such  resolutions  no  legal  effect ;  and,  in 
fact,  the  only  allusion  in  the  Poontoosuck  records  to  matters  of 
local  police  is  a  vote  that  "  hogs  shall  not  run  at  large." 

Among  graver  matters,  appropriations  for  the  support  of  public 
worship  —  sincerely  as  the  people  individually  prized  "  the  minis- 
trations of  the  Gospel "  —  in  Proprietors'  meeting,  were,  of  necessity, 
purely  business  transactions,  done  in  fulfilment  of  contracts  ;  and 
even  provision  for  the  burial  of  the  dead  was  to  be  considered  as 
adding  to  the  value  of  the  home-lots,  whose  occupants  wei-e  thus 
assured  of  the  chamber  whose  narrow  bed  all  must  one  day  need. 

On  the  30th  of  July,  Simeon  Crofoot,  Charles  Goodrich,  Jacob 
Ensign,  Solomon  Deming,  Stephen  Crofoot,  Samuel  Taylor,  and 
Elias  Willard  requested  Joseph  Dwight,  Esq.,  to  call  the  first 
meeting  of  "  the  Proprietors  of  the  Settling-lots  in  the  Township 
of  Poontoosuck,"  to  act  upon  certain  articles  specified  in  the 
request.  That  magistrate  accordingly  issued  IMS  warrant  to 
Stephen  Crofoot,  "  one  of  the  principal  proprietors,  etc,"  directing 
him  to  warn  the  meeting,  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Elias  Willard 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Sept.  12,  by  posting  up  the 

1  Especially  in  cases  like  that  of  Poontoosuck,  where  their  jurisdiction  was  con- 
fined to  a  single  section  of  the  township. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  93 

request  and  warrant,  twenty  days  at  least  before  the  day  of 
the  meeting,  in  some  public  place  in  the  township. 

The  Proprietors  met  at  the  appointed  time,  and,  Gen.  Dwight 
presiding,  chose  Hezekiah  Jones  as  moderator;  after  which  the 
plantation  was  organized  by  the  choice  of  the  following  officers : 
Clerk,  David  Bush  ;  Assessors,  Deacon  (Stephen)  Crofoot,  Hezekiah 
Jones,  Jacob  Ensign;  Treasurer,  Charles  Goodrich;  Collector, 
Samuel  Taylor,  2d. 

It  was  voted  to  assess  a  tax  of  three  shillings  upon  each  lot  "  for 
the  support  of  preaching  among  us,"  and  to  raise,  in  lawful  money, 
£40  for  building  a  meeting-house,  and  £15  for  making  highways, 
building  bridges,  and  "for  other  necessary  expenses  that  shall 
come  upon  us." 

Deacon  Crofoot,  Charles  Goodrich,  and  Jacob  Ensign  were  ap- 
pointed "  to  agree  with  some  suitable  person  or  persons  to  preach 
among  us  " ;  Jacob  Ensign,  Josiah  Wright,  and  Abner  Dewey  "  to 
dispose  of"  the  appropriation  for  bridges  and  highways;  Hezekiah 
Jones,  Israel  Dewey,  Elias  Willard,  Deacon  Crofoot,  and  Charles 
Goodrich,  "to  manage  the  whole  affair  of  the  meeting-house," 
which  last  did  not  prove  an  affair  to  be  easily  "  managed." 

It  was  of  much  importance  to  the  plantation,  that  saw  and  grist 
mills  should  be  erected,  as  the  nearest  point  at  which  the  farmers 
could  have  their  grain  ground  was  Great  Barrington,  twenty-one 
miles  distant ;  and  it  does  not  appear  how  sawed  lumber  could  be 
obtained  at  all  within  any  practicable  distance.  Deacon  Crofoot, 
who  seems  to  have  been  an  active  and  enterprising  man,  wished 
to  supply  the  deficiency,  and,  for  this  purpose,  asked  the  plantation 
to  exchange  that  portion  of  the  school-lot  which  included  the 
water-privilege  now  occupied  by  the  Pittsfield  Cotton  Mills,  for  a 
section  of  his  home-lot,  which  adjoined  it  upon  the  east.  Articles 
to  consider  this  proposition,  and  also  "  to  see  what  the  Proprietors 
will  give  Deacon  Crofoot  for  setting  up  the  mills,"  were  inserted 
in  the  warrant.  But,  the  record  curtly  informs  us,  the  meeting 
refused  either  to  make  the  proposed  exchange,  or  to  "  give  Deacon 
Crofoot  any  thing  for  setting  up  his  mills."  It  is  nowhere  ex- 
plained why  the  plantation  did  not  encourage  an  enterprise  which 
seems  to  have  been  so  much  for  the  common  interest.  But  Deacon 
Crofoot,  although  he  afterwards  built  his  mills,  was  never  popular 
as  a  miller. 

Finally,  it  was  ordered  that  succeeding  meetings  should  be  called 


94  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

"  by  posting  up  notifications  at  the  house  of  David  Bush,  in  the 
township,  at  least  fourteen  days  before  they  were  to  be  held."  Mr. 
Bush's  house  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Honasada  Street,  about 
one  hundred  rods  west  of  Wendell  Square  ;  and,  as  the  Proprietors' 
meetings  were  also  held  in  it,  its  location  must  have  been  consid- 
ered fairly  central,  although  its  selection  for  the  purposes  named 
was  in  part  due  to  its  owner's  office  of  Proprietors'  clerk.1 

Proprietors'  meetings  were  held  in  March,  May,  and  August, 
1754 ;  and  the  records  show  progress  in  the  plantation.  It  was 
voted  to  double  the  tax  upon  each  lot  for  the  support  of  preaching. 
The  dimensions  of  the  meeting-house  were  fixed  "to  be  thirty  feet 
long  and  thirty-five  wide,"  and  it  was  determined  to  go  on  with  the 
work  the  next  fall.  The  troubles  concerning  the  erection  of  this 
building,  which  afterwards  became  chronic,  seem  already  to  have 
commenced  ;  for  the  May  meeting  resolved  that  Stephen  Crofoot 
and  Hezekiah  Jones,  who  had  tendered  their  resignations,  should 
nevertheless  continue  to  "stand  committee  about  the  meeting- 
house." 

'  The  enterprising  Deacon  Crofoot  had  built  a  bridge,  the  first 
public  work  ever  completed  in  Pittsfield,  across  the  river,  in  his  lot, 
a  little  east  of  the  present  Elm-street  iron  bridge ;  and  it  was 
agreed  to  give  him  £9.  Is.  4.d.  for  it,  including  a  road,  which,  care 
was  taken  to  provide,  should  extend  as  well  from  East  Street  to 
the  bridge  as  from  the  bridge  to  East  Street. 

The  warrant  calling  upon  the  Proprietors  to  decide  whether  they 
"would  hire  Mr.  Smith  to  preach  any  certain  time  with  them,  or 
call  him  as  a  probationer,"  the  second  alternative  was  adopted.2 

The  "Mr.  Smith"  to  whom  this  call  was  extended  was  Rev. 
Cotton  Mather  Smith,  father  of  Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith,  after- 
wards Governor  of  Connecticut.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale,  and 
studied  theology  with  Rev.  William  Williams  of  Hatfield.  In 
1752-3,  he  was  an  instructor  in  the  Indian  school  at  Stockbridge, 

1  As  the  crossing  of  Wendell  and  Honasada  Streets  is  a  point  of  which  frequent 
mention  occurs,  we  shall,  for  the  sake  of  conciseness,   speak  of  it  as  Wendell 
Square. 

2  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  although  not  peculiar  to  Poontoosuck,  that,  while  the 
records  accord  the  title  of  Deacon,  wherever  it  is  due,  with  great  precision,  the  pre- 
fix Rev.  is  never  connected  with  the  names  of  any  of  the  clergymen  with  whom 
negotiations  were  had,  —  not  even  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Allen  until  after  his  ordina- 
tion. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  95 

and  had  probably,  before  this  call,  preached  occasionally  at  Poon- 
toosuck,  and  perhaps  the  first  sermon  ever  delivered  in  the  town- 
ship. 

Eight  pounds  were  voted  at  one  meeting,  and  twenty  at  another, 
for  highways  and  bridges;  and  Jacob  Ensign,  Josiah  Wright,  and 
Abner  Dewey  were  chosen  to  dispose  of  this  money,  and  also  em- 
powered "  to  make  exchanges  of  lands,  so  that  the  Proprietors  may 
be  better  suited,  if  occasion  requires."  But  no  record  of  their  acts 
remains.  Unkamet's  Road  appears  to  have  been  overgrown ;  for  in 
1753,  according  to  the  very  reliable  authority  of  Judd's  "  History  of 
Hadley,"  "  a  horse-road  was  marked  out  from  fifteen  miles  east 
of  Albany,"  —  where  the  carriage-road  probably  commenced, — 
"  through  Poontoosuck,  to  Northampton ;  but  it  was  not  much 
used."  "  The  way  from  Hampshire  and  Hartford  to  Albany,"  says 
the  same  work,  "  was  through  the  villages  of  Westfield  and  Kin- 
derhook,  and  the  territory  now  in  Blandford,  Sheffield,  etc.  A 
later  road  crossed  Great  Barrington."  But  many  of  the  settlers 
of  Poontoosuck  appear  to  have  come  by  the  most  direct  route 
practicable,  through  the  woods,  guided  by  marked  trees.  And  this 
was  more  easily  done  than  we  are  apt  to  suppose,  on  account  of  a 
practice  which  prevailed,  both  among  the  aborigines  and  the 
pioneers,  of  burning  the  underbrush,  in  order  to  facilitate  hunting, 
as  well  as  to  destroy  the  lurking-places  of  prowling  enemies, 
and,  by  the  natives,  in  order  to  prepare  some  portion  of  the 
ground  for  their  rude  culture. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  picture  the  aboriginal  forest  of  New  England  as 
a  scene  altogether  or  chiefly  of  sombre  shades  and  tangled  thickets. 
"  The  dark-haired  maiden  loved  its  grassy  dells"  where,  when 
the  swift  servant,  Fire,  had  roughly  done  his  work,  kindly  Nature 
had  followed,  "  touching  in  her  picturesque  graces."  The  hunters 
of  a  labor-hating  race,  courting  neither  difficulty  nor  danger  in  the 
chase,  did  not  choose  that  their  grounds  should  be  cumbered  with 
thickets  which  at  once  impeded  their  pursuit  of  game,  and  afforded 
concealment  to  hostile  braves ;  and  so,  since  it  cost  but  the  kin- 
dling of  the  spark,  the  annual  fires  swept  them  clear.  Even  the 
patient  squaws  were  not  enamored  of  hard  work,  and  the  same 
ready  agent  helped  them  to  prepare  the  meadow  for  the  hoe. 
Thus  immense  tracts  were  swept  of  their  undergrowth,  while  the 
more  massy  trees  were  unharmed ;  so  that  it  is  related  that  a  deer 
could  often  be  seen,  in  a  heavily-timbered  country,  at  a  distance 


96  HISTORY   OP   PITTSFIELD. 

of  forty  rods.  And  many  of  the  upland  forests  were  passable  — 
with  a  little  occasional  aid  from  the  axe  —  for  carts  and  drays,  like 
those  with  which  Goodrich  and  Fail-field  entered  Poontoosuck. l 
These  burnings  were,  perhaps,  not  so  universal  in  the  times  of 
the  Indians,  upon  the  western  mountains,  as  in  other  parts  of 
Hampshire ;  and  these  may  have  been,  as  the  name  Taghkanik 
intimates,  more  deeply  wooded.  But  the  same  reasons  which  had 
originated  the  burnings  by  the  natives  operated  still  more  power- 
fully upon  the  settlers,  and  fire  swept  the  way  before  advancing 
civilization ;  while,  even  in  tracts  where  it  did  not  reach,  — 

Old  winding  roads  were  frequent  in  the  woods, 

By  the  surveyor  opened  long  ago, 

When  through  their  depths  he  led  his  trampling  band, 

Startling  the  crouched  deer  from  the  underbrush.  —  STREET. 

And  so  it  happened  that  the  pioneers  found  less  difficulty  in 
traversing  the  woods,  and  in  many  instances  better  preparation 
for  their  clearings,  than,  without  considering  these  facts,  we  should 
suspect. 

1  Hist.  Hadley. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

SECOND   FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WAR. 

[I7S4-I7S9-] 

State  of  the  Plantation.  —  Position  of  Housatonic  Indians.  —  Homicide  of  Waum- 
paumcorse.  —  Indian  Massacre  at  Stockbridge  and  Hoosac.  —  Flight  from  Poon- 
toosuck.  —  Poontoosuck  Military  Post.  —  Building  of  Fort  Anson.  —  Garrison- 
Life  at  the  Fort.  —  The  Settlers  during  the  War.  —  Fort  Goodrich.  — Fort  Fair- 
field.  —  Fort  at  Onota.  —  Oliver  Eoot.  —  William  Williams. 

r  I  ^HE  Plantation  of  Poontoosuck  had,  in  August,  1754,  made  re- 
JL  spectable  progress ;  and  the  proprietors  were  ready,  as  the 
votes  we  have  quoted  show,  to  prosecute  their  corporate  work 
with  increasing  vigor.  Most  of  the  sixty  home-lots  had  been  taken 
up  ;  and,  although  in  some  instances  two  or  more  were  purchased 
by  a  single  settler,  the  population  of  the  place  must  have  been 
nearly  two  hundred.  The  dwellings  were  as  yet  all  of  logs ;  but ' 
Charles  Goodrich  was  preparing  to  build  on  Wendell  Square,  if  he 
had  not  already  partially  erected,  the  first  frame-house  in  the  town- 
ship. The  pioneers  of  1743  still  felt  the  depressing  effects  of  the 
failure  of  their  enterprise,  but  were  gradually  overcoming  the  diffi- 
culties which  it  placed  in  their  way.  The  settlement  was  attract- 
ing men  of  substance,  and  some  of  that  class  had  already  joined  it. 
Had  no  new  misfortune  intervened,  it  would  have  been  close  upon 
that  prosperity  which  it  only  actually  attained  after  long  struggles 
with  poverty  and  pecuniary  embarrassments,  —  struggles  whose 
marked  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  people  of  Pittsfield 
was  especially  manifest  in  the  internal  political  troubles  which  ac- 
companied the  Revolutionary  War. 

Between  the  years  1725  and  1754,  the  territory  now  embraced 
in  Berkshire  gained  a  population  of  perhaps  something  more  than 
7  97 


98  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

fifteen  hundred, — almost  all  of  it  south  of  Poontoosuck.  Th.e  towns 
of  Sheffield  and  Stockbridge  were  incorporated ;  and  settlements 
were  planted  in  New  Marlborougb,  Sandisfield,  Tyringham,  Alford, 
Egremont,  and  Mount  Washington.  Northward,  a  few  families 
had  made  their  homes  in  Williamstown  and  Lanesborough  ;  and  a 
little  land  was  cultivated,  at  times,  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. Here  and  there,  among  the  green  woods,  solitary  hunters 
and  trappers  —  hardier  even  than  the  pioneer  farmer  —  planted 
patches  of  vegetables  in  the  scant  clearings  where  they  built  their 
lonely  cabins,  —  seminaries  which  produced  the  boldest  and  most 
successful  scouts  in  the  coming  war. 

The  Indians  formed  a  more  considerable  element  in  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Valley  than  at  any  previous  date  since  its  settlement  by 
the  English,  showing  a  census  of  probably  about  three  hundred. 

The  mission  commenced  in  1734,  and  established  at  Stockbridge 
in  1735,  had  in  twenty  years  produced  an  admirable  change  in  the 
condition  of  the  Mohegans;  but  it  had  not  wrought  a  miracle  upon 
them.  Ever  well  disposed  towards  the  white  man,  and,  upon  the 
whole,  well  treated  by  him,  they  received  at  his  hands  the  gifts  of 
education  and  religion  with  a  readiness  which  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected in  tribes  whose  experience  had  been  of  a  different  character ; 
and  they  adopted  the  usages  of  civilized  life  with  astonishing  facil- 
ity. They  did  not,  however,  leap  at  once  from  the  depths  of  bar- 
barism to  the  plane  which  the  Saxon  race  had  reached  only  after 
ages  and  generations  of  painful  climbing.  Much  less  did  they  ele- 
vate themselves  above  the  human  passions  and  frailties  from  which 
their  teachers  were  not  themselves  free. 

There  was,  moreover,  as  in  all  such  cases  there  inevitably  must 
be,  a  vagabond  class,  who  had  lost  the  virtues  of  savage  life  with- 
out submitting  to  the  restraints  of  civilized  society, — loose  fellows, 
who  hung  around  the  settlements,  selling  the  fruits  of  their  hunting 
and  trapping  for  rum,  and  then  roaming  from  farm-house  to  farm- 
house, committing  the  annoyances  of  which  mention  has  been  made. 
They  were  frowned  upon  by  the  more  respectable  and  numerous 
class  of  the  tribe;  but  they  created  a  bitter  prejudice  in  the  minds 
of  the  unthinking  against  all  of  their  color.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  Mission  Village  were  collected  from  many  sections  of  country, 
some  of  them  as  distant  as  the  banks  of  the  Susquehannah  ; a  and, 

1  Rec.  Gen.  Court,  Jan.  27,  1752. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  99 

although  this  long  pilgrimage  in  search  of  Christian  instruction 
afforded  a  presumption  in  their  favor,  a  few  disappointed  the  hopes 
formed  of  them,  and  all,  in  those  days  of  suspicion,  were  objects  of 
jealousy  as  strangers.  Nor  were  the  annoyances  to  which  the 
settlers  were  subject  wholly  unprovoked  on  their  part.  The  Pro- 
vincial Government,  its  agents,  and  the  better  part  of  the  people, 
did,  indeed,  treat  the  Mohegans,  not  only  with  scrupulous  justice, 
but  with  tender  and  earnest  regard  for  both  their  temporal  and 
spiritual  welfare,  and  with  generous  forbearance  towards  the  frail- 
ties and  perversities  of  their  wild  neophytes.  But  there  were  too 
many  exceptions  to  this  rule,  even  among  men  in  some  small 
authority,  who  had  come  from  sections  of  the  Province  where  the 
Indian,  without  distinction  of  person  or  tribe,  was  known  to  the 
masses  only  to  be  detested.  And,  if  the  Mohegan  suffered  injustice 
from  the  hands  of  those  who  should  have  been  in  some  decree 

o 

restrained  by  the  well-known  wishes  of  the  government,  the  treat- 
ment was  simply  intolerable  which  he  received  at  the  hands  of  a 
rude  soldiery,  hereditary  haters  of  every  red-skin,  and  ignorant  or 
regardless  of  the  long-tried  fidelity  of  the  tribe  of  tineas  to  the 
English  cause.1 

In  addition  to  these  just  causes  of  complaint,  the  Mohegans  had 
become  discontented  with  the  disposition  which  they  had  made 
of  their  lands,  and  alleged,  although  apparently  without  truth,  that, 
in  bargaining  them  away,  they  had  been  misled  by  false  representa- 
tions,2 and  that,  in  some  cases,  they  had  been  seized  without  pur- 
chase. 

1  "  They  say,  and  we  are,  and  too  often  have  been,  witnesses  of  the  many  in- 
sults and  abuses  which  they  (the  Mohegans)  have  suffered  from  the  English  sol- 
diery, —  their  lives  and  scalps  threatened  to  be  taken,  and  they  called  every  thing 
but  good,  charged  with  the  late  murders,  and  actually  put  into  such  terror  as  to 
not  know  which  way  to  turn  themselves." — Col.  Dwiyht  to  Col.  Israel  Williams, 
October,  1754. 

2  "  We  would  say  something  respecting  our  lands.     When  the  white  people 
purchased  from  time  to  time  of  us,  they  said  they  only  wanted  the  low  lands :  they 
told  us  the  hilly  land  was  good  for  nothing,  and  that  it  was  full  of  wood*  and 
stones.     But  now  we  see  people  living  all  about  the  hills  and  woods,  although  they 
have  not  purchased  the  lands.     When  we  inquire  of  the  people  who  live  on  these 
lands  what  right  they  have  to  them,  they  reply  to  us,  that  we  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded, and  that  these  lands  belong  to  the  King.     But  we  were  the  first  possessors 
of  them ;  and,  when  the  King  has  paid  us  for  them,  then  they  may  say  they  are 
his."  —  Speech  of  the  Stockbridge  Chiefs  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Six  Provinces,  at 
Albany,  July  8,  1754,  N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  599. 


100  HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  means  thus  offered  for  fomenting  distrust  and  ill-will  in  the 
jealous  minds  of  the  savages  were  not  neglected  by  the  agents  of 
France,  who  contrived  to  inspire  in  many  of  them  the  belief  "that 
the  English  were  on  a  design  of  exterminating  the  Indians  within 
their  reach." l 

In  the  spring  of  1753,  an  unhappy  event  occurred,  which  was 
used  with  surprising  effect  to  increase  the  ferment,  and  strengthen 
in  the  minds  of  the  natives  the  belief  that  the  English  designed 
their  destruction.  It  appears  that  one  Wampaumcorse,  a  Schnghti- 
coke  Indian,  domiciled  at  Stockbridge,  being  in  Sugar  Camp  at 
.  Hop  Brook  in  Tyringham,  saw  two  men,  Cook  by  name,  passing 
by  with  horses  which  he  suspected  to  be  stolen.  Pursuing  them, 
and  an  altercation  arising,  he  was  shot  dead.  The  Cooks  were 
thereupon  arrested,  and  tried  at  Springfield.  One  was  convicted  of 
manslaughter,  and  the  other  acquitted ;  which  seems  to  have  been 
what  the  law  and  the  evidence  required.  But  in  the  minds  of  the 
Schaghticokes,  as  in  those  of  the  exiled  Pequots,  murderous  resent- 
ment against  the  English  was  always  ready  to  be  aroused  ;  and  this 
affair  was  used  with  the  utmost  success  to  exasperate  the  Indians. 
Its  effect  was  soon  apparent  "  in  the  surly  behavior  of  several  in 
whom  it  had  not  before  been  observed  ; "  in  the  stealing  of  guns ; 
in  more  frequent  intercourse  with  distant  tribes,  and  the  consorting 
together  of  the  worst-tempered  and  worst-behaved  fellows,  who 
had  a  drunken  pow-wow,  which  was  kept  up,  in  the  woods  some 
six  miles  west  of  Stockbridge,  with  fresh  supplies  of  rum  from 
Kinderhook;  and  finally  some  negro  slaves  reported  a  plot,  in 
which  they  had  been  invited  to  join,  for  the  massacre  of  as  many 
of  the  whites  as  possible,  and  flight  to  Canada. 

Upon  this,  the  wildest  excitement  prevailed  at  Stockbridge,  and 
not  less,  of  course,  in  the  more  exposed  outpost  of  Poontoosuck. 
The  people  of  the  former  place  wisely  determined  to  call  the 
Indians  together,  let  them  know  their  apprehensions,  and  endeavor 
to  ascertain  what  foundation  there  was  for  them. 

It  appeared,  as  had  been  anticipated,  that  "  the  great  body  of 
the  tribe  were  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  secret  plot,  but  that 
the  thing  was  real  with  regard  to  so  many  that  the  authorities 
looked  upon  themselves  as  in  a  worse  state  than  in  an  open  war. " a 

1  Jona.  Edwards  to  Prov.  Sec.  Willard,  May,  1754,  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  xxxii. 

2  Gen.  D wight  and  Capt.  Woodbridge  to  Gov.  Shirley,  March  26,  1754,  Mass., 
Ar.,  vol.  xxxii,  p.  483. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  101 

Gen.  Dwight  and  Timo.  Woodbridge,  Esq.,  therefore  repre- 
sented this  condition  of  the  frontier  to  Gov.  Shirley,  adding  that 
there  seemed  to  be  no  pique  against  any  person  in  particular,  but 
against  the  English  in  general  for  the  killing  of  Wampaumcorse ; 
and,  in  order  that  the  people  "  might  not  be  exposed  to  the  mur- 
derous strokes  of  savage  resentment,"  they  earnestly  begged  his 
Excellency  to  recommend  to  the  General  Court  an  increase  of  the 
sum  of  £6  which  had  been  granted  "  to  wipe  away  blood," 1  and 
that  it  might  be  sent  by  a  special  embassy;  which  would  add  to  its 
efficiency  as  a  peace-offering. 

This  request  was  so  far  granted,  on  the  22d  of  April,  as  to  vote 
£20,  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Dwight,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  relatives  of  Wampaumcorse. 

But,  on  the  22d  of  May,  Jonathan  Edwards,  apparently  in  the 
greatest  anxiety,  found  it  necessary  to  write  to  Secretary  Willard, 
requesting  his  influence  that  "  the  money  which  had  been  granted 
to  Wanaubaugus,  the  uncle  of  the  man  that  was  killed,  might  be 
speedily  delivered."  "It  was  manifest,"  he  said,  "that  it  was  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  importance,  not  only  to  the  people  in  Stock- 
bridge,  but  to  all  New  England,  that  the  Indians  should  be 
speedily  quieted  in  that  matter.  It  was  evident  that  the  ill- 
influence  of  that  affair  had  a  wide  extent,  reaching  to  tribes  at  a 
great  distance,  —  that  it  would  be  a  handle  of  which  the  French 
at  that  juncture  would  make  the  utmost  improvement."  It 
"  seemed  to  affect  the  Mohawks,  no  less  than  the  other  In- 
dians." 

The  money  was  accordingly  paid,  and  the  excitement  among 
the  natives  in  some  degree  subsided.  The  delegates  of  the  Stock- 
bridge  Mohegans,  as  vassals  of  the  Iroquois,  attended  the  confer- 
ence of  that  confederacy  with  the  commissioners  of  the  Provinces 
at  Albany,  in  July,  and  joined  in  the  league  formed,  very  much 
through  the  influence  of  Sir  William  Johnson.  The  Stockbridge 
chiefs  seized  the  opportunity  to  make  the  complaints  given  in  the 
note  on  page  99 ;  but  alliance  with  the  English  was  traditional 
with  them,  and  doubtless  their  disposition  was  more  favorable  to 
it  since  the  intimate  relations  created  by  the  mission  settlement. 
The  influence  of  the  French  emissaries  appears  to  have  had  effect 

1  In  accordance  with  the  Indian  custom  of  compounding  for  homicide  by  a 
fine  to  the  relatives  of  the  slain. 


102  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

only  upon  the  baser  sort,  and  perhaps  chiefly  upon  those  (not  of 
Mohegan  blood)  who  had  been  attracted  to  the  mission.  At  this 
time,  the  relation  of  the  Mohegans  to  the  Iroquois,  although  still 
of  a  feudal  character,  approached  nearer  to  equality  than  at 
earlier  periods,  and,  in  token  of  its  amicable  nature,  had  assumed 
the  typical  form  of  kinship.  And  the  two  nations,  both  of  which,  in 
spite  of  exceptional  cases,  had  experienced  kindness  and  protection 
from  their  respective  Provinces,  mutually  influenced  each  other  in 
favor  of  English  alliance. 

Although  the  storm  of  war,  which  had  been  lowering  all  through 
the  clouded  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  seemed  now  about  to  burst 
upon  the  Colonies,  apprehensions  of  immediate  danger  to  Western 
Massachusetts,  from  the  Indians  of  its  own  vicinity,  were  thus  in 
some  measure  allayed. 

But  on  the  evening  of  Thursday,  the  29th  of  August,  some 
Stockbridge  Indians,  who  had  .been  northward  on  a  hunting- 
excursion,  returned  in  haste  with  the  startling  report,  that,  on  the 
previous  day,  they  had,  in  concealment,  witnessed  the  total 
destruction  of  Dutch  Hoosack  by  a  band  of  six  hundred  strange 
savages.1 

The  excitement  immediately  became  intense,  and  messengers 
were  sent  to  spread  the  alarm  in  every  direction.  On  Saturday, 
an  express,  bearing  information  of  the  troubles,  reached  Col. 
Worthington  at  Springfield,  where  Gen.  Dwight,  with  Capts. 
Ashley  and  Ingersol,  as  well  as  other  leading  citizens  of  the 
Housatonic  Valley,  were  attending  court.  The  latter  gentlemen 
at  once  hastened  to  take  charge  of  the  defence  of  their  homes ; 
and  Col.  Worthington  only  waited  to  raise  a  company  of  seventy 
men,  with  whom  he  set  out  on  Monday  evening  to  the  aid  of  the 
threatened  settlements. 

In  the  mean  time,  by  Saturday  night,  several  hundred  men  were 
under  arms  at  Stockbridge,  some  of  them  from  Connecticut.  The 

1  A  settlement  of  Dutch  farmers  in  the  Province  of  New  York,  north-west  of 
the  present  site  of  Williamstown.  Seven  houses,  fourteen  barns,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  wheat,  were  burned ;  many  cattle  and  hogs  slaughtered,  and  the  latter 
thrown  into  heaps  to  rot.  The  damage  was  estimated  at  "£50,000,  York  cur- 
rency." One  man,  Samuel  Bowen,  was  killed,  and  another  "  captivated."  The 
number  of  the  enemy  was  greatly  exaggerated  by  the  fears  of  the  settlers,  as  well 
as  by  the  Stockbridge  witnesses  of  the  affair. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFUELD.  103 

same  neighborly  colony  also  sent  a  large  number  of  horses  to 
bring  off  the  women  and  children  from  Poontoosuck.1 

Even  yet,  however,  there  appears  to  have  been  no  apprehension, 
at  Stockbridge,  of  danger  from  any  of  the  Indians  then  in  the 
town  ;  and  timely  notice  was  expected,  from  the  scouts  who  were 
scouring  the  woods,  of  the  approach  of  any  others.  The  people 
attended  church  as  usual ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  their  neighbors 
for  that  purpose,  the  family  of  one  Chamberlain,  who  lived  in  the 
retired  locality  of  "  The  Hill,"  appear  to  have  considered  them- 
selves in  perfect  safety,  until  they  were  suddenly  attacked  at  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Col.  Worthington,  on  the  au- 
thority of  a  despatch  from  Capts.  Ashley  and  Ingersol,  describes 
the  murderous  scenes  which  ensued,  as  follows : 2  — 

"  There  was  in  the  house  Chamberlain,  his  wife,  three  children, 
and  another  man,  named  Owen.  Two  Indians  only  attacked  the 
house,  —  fired  immediately  upon  entering,  one  at  Chamberlain's 
wife,  and  missed  her ;  the  other  at  Owen,  and  shot  him  in  the  arm. 
One  immediately  attacked  Owen ;  and  the  other,  Chamberlain's 
wife.  As  Owen  was  more  than  equal  to  the  Indian  who  engaged 
him,  the  Indian  called  his  fellow  to  his  help,  and  both  beset  Owen ; 
so  that  Chamberlain's  wife  escaped,  as  did  her  husband  coming 
out  of  an  inner  room,  and  left  the  two  Indians  (as  we  have  the 
account)  combating  with  Owen,  who  fought  them  like  a  man  for 
a  considerable  time,  but  was  so  cut  and  wounded  by  them  that 
he  was  obliged  to  yield,  and  he  died  soon  after.  He  was  scalped 

1  The  following  bill  was  presented  to  the  next  General  Court :  — 

PKOV.  OF  MASS.  BAY, 

To  ABXER  DEWEY,  of  Poontoonsuek,  Dr. 

To  keeping  130  horses  in  his  field  of  corn  and  grass,  one  night,  which  came 
from  Connecticut  to  fetch  off  the  women  and  children  belonging  to  said 

place,  at  in £26  00 

To  entertaining  15  men  three  days,  each  at  3s 6  15 


Old  tenor,          £32  lo  0 
Lawful  money,      474 

Charles  Goodrich  presented  a  similar  bill  for  keeping  sixty  horses  one  night  at 
five  shillings  each ;  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  meals  of  victuals  "  to  Connecticut 
men  when  they  came  to  our  relief  to  carry  us  off;  "  together  with  "  sundry  of  the 
Province  men  at  fourpence  a  meal,  and  for  keeping  ten  men  left  by  Capt.  Ashley 
for  our  protection,  for  four  days,  at  five  shillings  fourpence  per  week." 

The  Court  allowed  Dewey£2  10s.  6d.  lawful  money  (silver);  and  Goodrich,  £3 
8s.  6d.  (Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  Ixxiv.  pp.  337-343.) 

2  Report  to  Prov.  Sec.  Willard,  dated  Springfield,  Sept.  8,  1754:  Mass.  Ar. 
vol.  liv.  p.  323. 


104  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

by  them,  as  was  also  one  of  the  children  whom  they  killed.  A 
second  child  they  carried  out  a  quarter  of  a  mile ;  and  there,  being 
discovered  by  a  party  of  English  coming  from  Poontoosuck,  they 
knocked  it  on  the  head,  and,  mortally  wounding  it,  left  it  in  the 
woods,  where  it  was  picked  up  by  these  people." 

The  party  from  Poontoosuck  was  a  portion  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  that  place,  who,  mounted  on  the  Connecticut  hoi 
were  flying  to  the  stronger  settlements  of  the  south.  On  their 
way,  tradition  says  (and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt)  that  they 
were  repeatedly  fired  upon  from  the  woods :  and  some  of  the 
fugitives,  —  particularly  the  heroic  first  female  settler,  who  had 
perhaps  specially  provoked  the  vengeance  of  some  of  the  rascals 
whose  attacks  upon  her  larder  she  had  repelled,  —  narrowly  escaped 
the  bullets  of  the  hidden  foe.  But  the  only  person  who  was 
killed  was  one  Stevens,  or  Stearns,  —  the  accounts  give  the 
name  in  both  forms,  —  said  to  have  been  a  laboring  man  from 
Canaan,  Conn.,  who  had  been  at  work  in  Poontoosuck  during  the 
summer.  On  the  pillion  behind  him  was  a  daughter  of  Sylvanus 
Piercey,  whom  he  had  perhaps  married,  as  some  of  the  reports 
speak  of  her  as  his  wife.  Stevens  was  shot  while  passing  through 
Lenox  ;  but  his  companion  was  rescued  by  the  first  settler  of  that 
town,  Jonathan  Hinsdale.  The  settlements  above  Stockbrulge 
were  completely  abandoned. 

It  is  a  prevalent  opinion  that  only  the  two  Indians  who  made  the 
attack  upon  Chamberlain's  house  were  engaged  in  firing  upon  the 
fugitives  from  Poontoosuck;  but  the  weight  of  evidence  is  opposed 
to  this  theory.  The  woods  were  full  of  prowlers.  A  scout 
sent  out  from  Fort  Massachusetts  towards  Albany  ascertained, 
that,  "  on  the  25th  or  26th  of  August,  forty-two  canoes  of  Indians, 
of  five,  six,  or  seven  in  a  canoe,  crossed  the  lake "  (either  Lake 
George  or  Lake  Charaplain),  w  with  a  design  to  make  a  descent  on 
our  frontier."  On  the  6th  of  September,  a  man  who  had  ventured 
to  return  to  Poontoosuck  was  "  shot  at  by  three  Indians,  and  the 
bullets  penetrated  his  clothes  in  several  places."  He  returned  the 
fire  and  "  shot  one  down,  but  did  not  get  him."  l 

The  reliable  local  tradition  is,  that  the  white  combatant,  having 
procured  a  re-enforcement,  traced  his  opponent  by  his  blood  to  the 
shore  of  Lake  Onota,  and  found  a  pebble  wrapped  in  cloth,  which 
had  evidently  been  used  to  stanch  the  wound.  But  the  injured 

1  Col.  Worthingtem  to  Willard. 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  105 

man  had  disappeared ;  whether  carried  off  by  his  friends,  or 
plunged  into  the  lake  to  save  his  scalp  from  his  pursuers,  is  uncer- 
tain. The  latter  was  the  belief  of  the  time. 

On,  the  same  day,  two  men  were  fired  upon,  west  of  Sheffield, 
and  another  north  of  that  town.  All  these  events,  occurring  in  the 
week  ending  on  the  7th  of  September,  were  amply  sufficient  to 
rouse  suspicion  of  the  complicity  of  the  resident  Indians,  especially 
in  the  minds  of  the  soldiers  who  came  from  a  distance  to  the 
relief  of  the  settlers ;  although  the  latter  were  not  entirely  free 
from  the  injustice.1 

Gen.  Dwight,  after  careful  investigation,  warmly  defended  the 
Mission  Indians ;  showed  them  to  be  innocent  of  all  blame  in  the 
matter,  and,  if  properly  treated,  ready  to  join  with  their  white 
neighbors  in  the  war.  The  guilty  parties  proved  to  be  Schaghti- 
cokes, of  whom  a  few  were  domiciled  at  Stockbridge.  And  doubt- 
less some  of  the  rascal  red  population  which  hung  round  the 
place  also  participated  in  the  mischief  done. 

The  Schaghticokes  had,  like  the  Mohegans,  pledged  themselves 
to  the  league  formed  at  Albany  in  July;  but  they  had  hardly 
returned  home  before  they  proved  faithless  to  their  obligations. 
In  October,  Col.  Timothy  Woodbridge  held  tt  a  talk n  with  the 
Canadian  sachems,  whose  bands  had  perpetrated  the  outrages  at 
Hoosac,  Stockbridge,  and  Poontoosnck,  and  drew  from  them  that 
they  had  acted  under  the  joint  instigation  of  the  French  and  the 
Schaghticokes.  He  asked  them,  **  Why  they  had  made  war  upon 
the  settlements,  while  the  princes  under  which  they  respectively 
lived  were  at  peace  ?  "  They  replied,  that  a  The  Schaghticokes  had 
sent  to  the  Orondocks  and  the  Onuhgungoes,  to  come  and  revenge 
themselves  for  the  death  of  several  of  their  men  who  had  been 
killed  by  the  English,  and  to  help  them  —  the  Schaghticokes  — 
to  Canada." 

Others  reported  that  the  Onuhgungoes  waited  upon  the  Gover- 
nor of  Canada,  and  said,  u  Father,  the  English  have  abused  us  in 
driving  us  from  our  lands  and  taking  them  from  us."  * 

1  The  worst  of  the  outrages  mentioned  by  Gen.  Dwight,  in  his  letter  of  Oct.  4, 
—  quoted  in  the  note  on  page  99, — were  the  results  of  this  suspicion  ;  although 
treatment  of  the  natives  of  a  similar  character,  however  less  gross  in  degree,  had 
prevailed,  as  stated  in  the  text,  long  before  the  date  in  connection  with  which  the 
letter  is  first  quoted. 

2  Col.  Woodbridge  explains  in  parenthesis,  that  "  the  Onuhgungoes  were  in- 
habitants of  the  Connecticut  Valley  driven  away  in  former  wars,  the  same  as  the 


106  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  Governor  replied,  "  Children,  the  land  is  not  mine,  but 
yours  :  you  must  assert  your  right." 

Upon  this  hint  they  acted,  and  sent  out  an  expedition,  which,  as 
they  confessed,  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty  men.1 

To  the  people  who,  driven  out  from  the  homes,  which,  after  one 
cruel  interruption,  they  had  just  begun  to  build  up,  were  collected, 
in  doubt  and  confusion  in  the  lower  towns,  it  was  a  momentous 
question,  whether  the  murderous  outbreak  which  had  visited  them 
was  only  a  sudden  freak  of  savage  fury,  which  would  soon  pass 
away,  or  one  more  of  the  accumulating  proofs  that  France  had 
secured  the  alliance  of  the  Indians  in  another  bitter,  and  probably 
prolonged  contest,  for  the  extension  of  her  dominion  in  America. 
The  conference  of  the  St.  Fran9ois  chiefs  with  Col.  Woodbridge 
was  considered  conclusive  against  the  French,  who  were  then  still 
keeping  up  treacherous  professions  of  peaceful  purposes.  But  the 
Government  could  have  previously  had  no  doubt  upon  the  subject: 
the  conference  is  only  mentioned  here,  as  showing  the  conjunction 
of  causes  which  produced  so  serious  an  interruption  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Berkshire. 

The  alarm  on  the  border  was  pitiable.  Every  hour  brought 
rumors  of  outrage,  which,  although  oftenest  false,  servetl  to  keep 
alive  the  public  excitement.  "I  never  knew,"  wrote  Israel 
Williams  on  the  6th  of  September,  "  in  all  ye  last  war,  the  people 
under  so  great  surprise  and  fear."  But  Col.  William  Williams, 
probably  after  consultation  with  Gen.  Dwight  and  Col.  Worthing- 
ton,  returned  with  some  of  his  neighbors  and  a  detachment  of 
Connecticut  troops  to  his  house  on  Unkamet  Street,  which  at  once 
was  stockaded.  On  the  9th,  Col.  Israel  Williams,  who  commanded 
the  Hampshire  militia,  wrote  from  Hatfield  to  the  Provincial  Secre- 
tary, that  he  "  hoped  they  would  maintain  their  guard  at  Poontoo- 
suck,  and  be  some  protection  to  the  towns  and  places  within." 

As  soon  as  communication  could  be  had  with  head-quarters, 
Col.  William  Williams  received  orders  from  Gov.  Shirley  of 
Massachusetts,  and  a  request  from  Gov.  Fitch  of  Connecticut,  to 
make  a  stand  at  Poontoosuck :  the  former  sending  him  a  sergeant 
and  eight  men ;  the  latter,  twenty -eight  men,  under  command  of 
Capt.  Hinman. 2 

Schaghticokes."     The  ghosts  of  murdered  nations  were  rising  it  seems,  to  plague 
their  destroyers. 

1  Lieut. -Col.  Woodbridge,  Oct.  9,  1754 

2  T.  C.  C.  p.  217. 


POKT   ANSON. 


GROUND    PLAN. 


la 


SOUTH    PROSPECT. 


PROFILE    FROM    THE    CENTRE. 


FORT    AN  SON, 
BUILT  BY  WILLIAM  WILLIAMS,  AT  POONTOOSCCK,  SEPTEMBER,  1754. 


EXPLANATION  OF  GROUND  PLAN. 

A,  The  House,  40  by  24  feet,  nine-feet  posts,  with  a  gambrcl  roof,  the  walls  filled 

with  four-inch  white-ash  plank. 
D,  The   Storehouse,  35  by  10  feet;  the  outside,  M,  M,  14  feet  high ;  the  inside, 

at    N,  7    feet;    double-covered  with  boards  up  and  down,  salt-l»ox  fashion, 

drooping  inwards. 

C,  The  Well. 

D,  A  Flanker,  to  defend  the  dead-wall  F. 

E,  G,  Dead- Walls,  scoured  from  the  upper  works. 

//,  II,  Large  Sills,  let  into  the  ground,  to  support  the  pillars  I,  K. 

/,  /,  Large  Pillars,  let  into  the  sills,  just  eight  inches  from  the  house,  in  every  part, 
that  reach  as  high  as  the  eaves,  and  support  plates  that  go  all  around  the 
house,  and  are  locked  at  the  corners. 

K,  K,  Large  Pillars,  16  inches  square,  7  feet  higher  than  the  top  of  the  plate,  sup- 
ported by  the  pillars.  Each  girted  to  his  fellow,  and  cross-girted  to  the  plate. 

L,  L,  The  Yard,  floored  all  over. 


A   SOUTH  PROSPECT  OF  FORT  AT  POONTOOSUCK. 
X,  X,  the  ends  of  the  House. 


A  PROFILE  FROM  THE  CENTRE  OF  THE  HOUSE,  EAST  AND  WEST. 

EXPLANATION. 

A,  A,  Pillars  filled  with  square  timber,  let  in  with  a  groove  from  the  girt,  I,  to  the 
.   top ;  being  7  feet  all  round  ye  house. 

B,  B,  A  Platform,  8  feet  wide,  round  the  house. 

C,  C,  Pillars  that  support  the  plates  that  support  one  side  of  the  platform ;  the 

other  side  being  supported  by  the  girts  that  pass  from  ye  pillars  A,  A,  side- 
ways. 

D,  The  lower  part  of  the  house. 

E,  The  Chamber,  or  soldiers'  lodging-room. 

F,  The  space  of  the  Gambo. 

G,  The  Yard. 

//,  The  Storeroom. 

K,  K,  Doors,  out  of  which  the  soldiers  may  run  and  cover  any  or  every  part  of  the 
house. 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  107 

/ 

The  home-lots  being  too  widely  scattered  for  defence,  the  settlers 
who  returned  with  Col.  Williams  repaired  to  his  house,1  and  en- 
tered into  a  compact  to  work  together  on  the  lands  protected  by  its 
defences,  holding  the  produce  in  common,  and  "cheerfully  agree- 
ing, that,  if  any  thing  remained  beyond  what  was  necessary  for  their 
own  support,  to  give  it  for  the  soldiers  which  might  be  allowed 
them."  The  petition  to  the  General  Court,  in  which  they  stated 
this  plan,  asked  only  that  the  same  protection  might  be  granted 
them  which  was  accorded  their  brethren  of  the  Province,  "  consid- 
ering their  situation,"  and  that  allowance  might  be  made  them  for 
the  expense  incurred  in  fortifying,  in  case  their  scheme  should  be 
approved. 2 

Correspondence  ensued,  of  which  the  following  letter  formed  a 
part :  — 

COL.   ISRAEL   WILLIAMS    TO   COL.   WM.   WILLIAMS. 

HATFIELD,  Sept.  28,  1764. 

Sir,  —  Major  Williams  is  returned  from  Boston,  by  whom  I  have  my 
orders  renewed  for  ye  strengthening  ye  frontiers  and  raising  a  greater  num- 
ber of  forces  for  that  purpose  and  scouting,  if  I  judge  needful,  but  no  orders 
for  building  forts  anywhere.  The  Governor  will  report  that  matter  to  ye 
General  Court :  but  yet  he  is  desirous  of  having  ye  people  maintain  their 
ground,  and  has  given  me  sufficient  orders  to  defend  the  garrisons  they  build ; 
and,  as  I  wrote  to  you  heretofore,  so  I  would  again  press  your  people  to  fortify 
somewhere  in  ye  westerly  part  of  Poontoosuck.  By  what  I  have  been  in- 
formed, Ashley's  house  is  well  situate  :  but,  if  they  incline  to  fortify  further 
west,  I  like  it  well ;  and,  if  they  go  cheerfully  and  do  it,  there  is  reason  to 
think  they  will  meet  with  ye  favor  of  the  Government ;  and,  if  they  do,  the 

1  No  man  appearing  to  provide  for  the  forces  aforesaid  but  Col.  Williams,  we 
repaired  to  his  house,  who,  at  his  own  expense,  had  fortified  the  same.  —  Poontoo- 
suck Petition,  T.  C.  C.  p.  98. 

2  The  following  memoranda,  made  by  Col.  Williams  two  years  afterwards,  gave 
these  transactions  more  in  detail,  and  with  a  little  different  coloring  :  — 

"  MEMOKANDUM.  —  That,  upon  the  mischief,  protection  was  sent  us  both  from  this  Pro- 
vince and  Connecticut.  Upon  their  arrival,  1  offered  to  join  them  with  all  my  strength, 
in  fortifying  wherever  they  should  choose;  but  none  of  them  would  undertake,  either  to 
billet  or  build.  Upon  which,  rather  than  no  stand  should  be  made,  I  proposed,  if  they  would 
fortify  with  me,  I  would  billet  them,  the  inhabitants  and  soldiers,  pay  the  broad-axe  men  three 
shillings  and  narrow-axe  two  shillings  per  diem  :  which  they  accepted,  and  I  performed,  and 
built  a  handsome,  strong,  and  very  tenable  fort  [Anson]  :  and,  if  I  had  not  thus  done,  the 
soldiers  would  have  all  returned,  and  no  one  soul  would  now  be  at  P.  And  now,  since  they 
find  the  war  is  like  to  last  longer  than  they  expected,  and  that  the  Bryars  and  Bushes  will 
get  up  too  high,  they  want  the  Province  to  pay  them  and  support  them,  while  they  cut  them 
down  [alluding  to  the  custom  of  alternate  mustering  in  as  soldiers].  It  can  be  nothing  else. 
Behold  their  situation.  The  ingenuity,  gratitude,  and  requital."  —  Lancton  Coll. 


108  HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

men  that  are  now  there  must,  some  of  'em,  guard  whilst  they  are  about  ye 
work ;  and,  if  the  inhabitants  can  supply  themselves  with  provisions,  Col. 
Partridge  will  supply  ye  soldiers  with  necessaries. 

We  have  no  news  of  ye  enemy. 

I  suppose  Col.  Partridge  will  send  to  y»u  to  come  in,  when  I  shall  confer 
with  you  about  some  other  matters.  The  Governor  has  given  ye  command 
of  the  men  at  Fort  Massachusetts  and  Poontoosuck  to  Major  Williams l  for  ye 

present. 

With  proper  salutations,  • 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

ISRAEL  WILLIAMS. 

But  Col.  Williams,  at  Poontoosuck,  had  already  begun  to 
strengthen  the  defences  on  his  own  Unkamet-street  grounds,  by 
the  erection  of  a  formidable  fort,  in  accordance  with  the  plans 
here  reproduced  from  the  original  copies,  which  are  still  preserved 
in  the  State  archives.  And  instead  of  abandoning  this  site,  which 
had  no  natural  advantages,  for  the  fine  and  commanding  eminence 
on  the  south-west  shore  of  Lake  Onota,  which  was  the  location 
of  "  Ashley's  House,"  he  persisted  in  his  first  intention,  and  built 
the  work  which  he  christened  Fort  Anson,  probably  in  honor  of 
the  admiral  with  whom  he  sailed  on  his  first  military  campaign 
under  Oglethorpe,  but  which  is  known  in  the  Provincial  records, 
sometimes  as  the  fort  at  Poontoosuck,  and  sometimes  as  Williams's 
Garrison." 

The  refusal  to  adopt  the  district-commander's  suggestion  in  re- 
gard to  the  location  of  the  fort  did  not  prevent  its  acceptance  by 
the  General  Court  as  one  of  the  Province  garrisons  ;  but  its 
builder  was  allowed  only  £08  for  it,  although  it  cost  him,  as  he 
alleged,  £91.  During  its  erection,  apprehensions  of  a  lurking  enemy 
rendered  it  necessary  to  keep  up  a  vigilant  scout  of  the  neighbor- 
hood ;  and  there  were  other  difficulties  to  encounter.  The  uncer- 
tain state  of  affairs  will  appear  by  the  following  letter  from  Col. 
Oliver  Patridge  to  Col.  "Williams,1  which  also  is  of  interest  as  illus- 
trating the  scarcity  of  certain  articles  of  merchandise,  as  well  as 
the  writer's  distrust  of  Col.  Williams's  business  capacity :  — 

HATFIELD,  Sept.  21,  1754. 

Dear  Brother,  —  I  received  yours  by  Chandler ;  have  procured  you  ten 
pounds  of  ginger,  a  door-lock,  and  two  padlocks,  small,  but  the  biggest  in 

1  Major  Eph.  Williams,  the  founder  of  Williams  College. 

2  Col.  Partridge  married  Col.  Williams's  sister,  and  appears  to  have  enter- 
tained a  warm  friendship  for  his  brother-in-law. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  109 

town.  Shall  send  ye  hinges,  staples,  &c.,  you  sent  for;  also,  twenty-one 
and  half  gallons  of  rum  and  six  gallons  of  molasses.  Upon  advising  with 
Col.  [Israel]  Williams,  he  let  me  know  that  rum  would  not  be  allowed 
soldiers,  except  those  destined  for  scouting.  I  thought  molasses  would  be 
profitable  in  the  article  of  Bar.  One  half-pound  pepper  and  a  quire 
paper  I  also  send.  There  is  no  Commissary  appointed  for  your  place,  and 
who  it  will  be  I  know  not ;  but  I  will  be  so  free  with  you  (and  I  trust  I  may 
so  advise  you),  to  be  very  wary  and  careful  how  you  proceed  in  the  article  of 
billeting :  else  difficulties  may  arise.  Poontoosuck  inhabitants,  who,  I  under- 
stand, are  with  you,  will  not  be  allowed  billeting  until  they  are  mustered  as 
soldiers,  which  probably  they  will  alternately.  What  store  of  pork  you  have 
at  Poontoosuck  among  your  people,  and  at  what  rate  it  may  be  bought,  I 
don't  know.  I  would  advise  you  not  to  give  any  extravagant  price :  there  is 
enough  to  be  had  here  reasonably.  As  to  their  wheat  which  is  upon  the 
straw,  you  certainly  (if  you  want)  may  get  at  a  moderate  price.  We  have 
heard  this  morning  (Sept.  22)  a  man  was  shot  upon  at  Southampton,  and 
we  have  no  news  from  any  other  quarter.  I  hope  you  will  use  prudence 
as  to  yourself  and  men  with  you,  for  we  know  not  where  ye  enemy  lurks. 
I  am  your  brother  and  servant, 

OL.  PARTRIDGE. 

N.  B.  —  I  have  sent  eight  and  three-quarter  pounds  of  sugar,  though  I 
had  none  to  part  with. 

Besides  superintending,  and  providing  the  means  for,  the  erec- 
tion of  Fort  Anson,  Col.  Williams  attended  to  the  commissariat  of 
both  the  soldiers  and  the  returned  settlers,  —  a  department  for  which' 
he  seems  to  have  had  a  predilection,  if  not  an  aptitude.  We  have 
his  "  Gentlemen's,  Soldiers',  and  Laborers'  Account  Book,  1754,. 
whilst  building  Fort  Anson  at  Poontoosuck,"  1  and  also  his  Sutler's 
Book  for  the  month  of  November.  And  they  furnish  some  curi- 
ous recollections  of  life  at  Unkamet's  Crossing.  The  former 
shows  a  deal  of  hard  work,  sustained  by  regular  although  not 
excessively  frequent  potations ; 2  the  latter,  commencing  after  the: 
families  of  some  of  the  settlers  had  repaired  to  the  fort,  is  of  more, 
curious  interest.  Nine-tenths  of  its  charges  are  for  spirituous, 
liquors,  in  drams  of  rum,  bowls  or  half  bowls  of  punch,  and  mugs 
of  flip.  But  it  must  be  considered  that  every  potation  was  here 
recorded,  and  that  an  allowance  of  two  or  three  daily,  and  the 
average  did  not  reach  the  smaller  number,  although  it  was  then 
considered  moderate  drinking,  made  a  formidable  show  if  stretched 

1  Lane.  Coll.  s  T.  C.  C.,  p.  286. 


110  HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD. 

out  through  a  month's  accounts.  Persons  lower  in  rank  took  their 
drams;  their  superiors  revelled  in  punch;  while  the  more  staid, 
and  the  gentler  sex,  —  for  the  ladies  did  not  totally  abstain,  —  were 
generally  content  with  the  mild  beverage  of  flip :  if  "  sower,"  then 
the  more  luxurious. 

Capt.  Hinman  appears  to  have  been  a  jolly  fellow,  with  a  relish 
for  liquid  delicacies,  and  in  his  element  when  Nathaniel  Tyler  got 
credit  for  sixty  shillings  by  one  hundred  limes  delivered  the  com- 
missariat. Sometimes,  too,  a  pleasant  party  relieved  the  sombreness 
of  the  times  over  the  social  glass.  On  the  20th  of  November,  the 
gallant  Capt.  Hinman  is  charged  with  a  "mug  of  flip  for  Mrs.  Pier- 
cey."  On  the  same  day  we  have  the  following  startling  entry: 
"  The  wife  of  Deacon  Crofoot  for  a  mug  of  flip,  —  a  kiss."  There 
must  have  been  a  merry  party  of  fair  women  and  brave  men  that 
chill  November  evening  in  the  old  fort.  But  it  may  be  as  well  to 
mention  that  the  good  deacon's  good  wife  was  then  sixty-six  years 
old.  It  is  not  recorded  that  the  score  so  deliberately  set  down 
against  her  was  ever  liquidated.  The  red  men,  too,  came  in  for 
their  share  of  the  fire-water.  Wanonpe  is  made  debtor  to  a  gill  of 
rum.  John  Wawampequeenont  to  a  mug,  a  gill,  and  a  glass.  John 
got  a  pound  of  shot  as  well. 

The  soldiers  in  1754  could  not  have  been  such  multitudinous 
letter- writers  as  those  of  1861-6.  The  only  charges  for  paper,  on 
Col.  William's  book,  were  one  sheet  to  Stephen  Parsons,  and  a  half 
sheet  to  Moses  Alexander,  —  the  latter  coupled  with  a  dram.  But 
opportunities  of  communication  with  home  were  then  rare. 

The  larder  of  the  fort  was  occasionally  replenished  with  venison 
at  five  pence  a  pound,  and  wild  turkey  at  a  shilling.  An  ox 
weighing  six  hundred  and  forty  pounds  was  bought  of  Sylvan  us 
Piercey  for  twelve  pence  a  pound,  making  £32 ;  and  a  yoke  was 
sold  for  £60  by  Hezekiah  Jones.  The  rations  of  thirty  men  for  a 
month  were  estimated  at  twenty  bushels  of  flour,  four  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds  of  pork,  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds 
of  beef,  four  and  a  half  bushels  of  pease,  and  twenty-four  gallons 
of  rum.  No  mention  is  made  in  the  book  of  tobacco  in  any  form. 

There  seems  to  have  been  much  flitting  to  and  from  the  fort, 
and  the  quartermaster  entertained  all  comers.  On  the  14th  Novem- 
ber, "Capt.  Hinman  and  Somers"  came  before  dinner,  and  five 
more  before  supper.  Sarah  Williams,  "  Sylvanus  Piercey,  his  wife 
and  four  children,  and  his  three  men,"  are  registered  on  the  same 


HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  Ill 

day.  Nov.  16,  "an  Indian  scout  and  two  of  Capt.  Hinman's 
men  before  supper."  "  Clerk  Stone  and  Tyler  ante  prandem  "  on 
the  19th,  &c. 

We  are  grateful  for  the  light  thrown  by  these  little  book; 
upon  life  in  Poontoosuck  while  it  was  held  as  a  military  outposts 
for  documentary  accounts  become  scant  after  January,  1755,  when 
Col.  Williams,  who  had  before  been  acting  as  a  half-pay  officer 
under  special  orders,  accepted  a  captaincy  in  the  regiment  which 
his  old  commander,  Sir  William  Pepperell,  was  raising  for  the 
Canada  expedition  of  Gen.  Shirley. 

From  the  archives  of  the  Commonwealth,  however,  we  gather, 
that,  between  the  opening  of  the  war  and  the  year  1759,  the  set- 
tlers of  Poontoosuck,  were  maintained  by  the  Province  in  a  sort  of 
semi-military  capacity.  The  supposition  of  Col.  Partridge,  that 
they  would  be  "  mustered  in  alternately,"  proved  substantially 
correct,  and  was  doubtless  in  accordance  with  custom.  In  order 
that  they  might  live,  and  hold  their  post  as  "  a  protection  to  the 
towns  within  ;"  pay,  for  garrisons  of  a  limited  number  of  men,  was 
allowed  to  the  forts  which  were  built  from  time  to  time  ;  and  this 
was  shared  by  as  many  of  those  who  most  needed  it  as  could 
agree  upon  a  division  of  service  and  remuneration.  Thus  a  fort 
which  was  allowed  a  garrison  of  eight  men,  really  had  more  than 
twice  that  number,  who  eked  out  their  subsistence  by  agricultural 
and  other  work  in  common,  or  otherwise. 

Nor  were  individual  interests  altogether  forgotten.  In  1756, 
Charles  Goodrich  represented  to  the  General  Court  that  the  Fort 
[Anson]  was  located  so  far  from  his  clearing  as  to  afford  no  pro- 
tection to  it  —  a  fact  which  shows  how  close  to  its  walls  the  enemy 
were  supposed  to  lurk,  and  how  great  was  the  terror  which  they 
inspired.  Goodrich  received  the  promise  of  support  for  a  garrison 
of  eight  men,  provided  he  would  build  "  a  fortified  place  at  his 
own  expense."  He  accordingly  erected  —  on  an  eminence  south- 
east of  Wendell  Square,  and  about  two  miles  south  of  Fort 
Anson  —  a  stout  block-house,  which  went  by  the  name  of  Good- 
rich Fort,  of  which  he  was  appointed  commander,  with  the  rank 
of  sergeant.  Goodrich,  owning  much  land  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
fort,  made  it  profitable  to  lease  or  sell  small  sections  of  it  to  less 
favored  settlers,  who  were  glad  to  be  "  mustered  in  alternately  "  as 
soldiers  of  the  garrison,  and  to  cultivate  little  patches  of  earth  so 
near  the  fort  that  they  could  take  refuge  in  it  in  case  of  danger. 


112  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

In  November,  1757,  a  petition  similar  to  that  of  Goodrich  was 
sent  to  the  General  Court  by  Stephen  Crofoot,  Solomon  Doming, 
Ebenezer  Holman,  Nathaniel  Fail-field,  Jesse  Sackett,  AbnerDewey, 
Ephraim  Stiles,  Simeon  Crofoot,  Hezekiah  Jones,  Eli  Root,  Israel 
Dewey,  Benedict  Dewey,  and  David  Bush. 

The  petitioners  stated,  that,  before  the  war,  they  had  made  con- 
siderable improvements  on  their  lands ;  but,  having  no  place  of 
defence  to  secure  their  families,  were  obliged  to  remove  them  "  on 
the  first  mischief  by  the  Indians;"  that  the  men  sent  by  the  Con- 
necticut Committee  of  War  were  employed  by  Col.  Williams  to  gar- 
rison his  own  house,  which  stood  about  two  miles  from  their  im- 
provements ; x  that  some  of  the  petitioners  had  been  at  said  fort 
[Anson]  in  the  pay  and  subsistence  of  the  Province,  in  the  hope  of 
a  re-settlement  of  the  town :  but,  as  it  was  situated,  it  was  of  no 
advantage  to  the  settlers ;  and  they  could  not  improve  their  lands 
unless  they  were  protected  by  works  properly  located  for  that  pur- 
pose. These  they  stated  their  willingness  to  build,  and  only  asked 
that  a  suitable  number  of  themselves  and  others,  —  of  which  there 
were  about  eighteen,  —  who  wished  to  re-settle  the  township,  might 
be  put  under  the  pay  and  subsistence  of  the  Province,  and  some 
disinterested  person  appointed  to  the  command. 

In  January,  the  same  parties,  together  with  Moses  Miller, 
Ezekiel  Phelps,  Benjamin  Goodrich,  Abner  and  Israel  Dewey,  and 
Jacob  Ensign,  informed  the  Court  that  they  had  built  "  a  good 
defensible  garrison,  eighty  feet  in  length  and  sixty  in  breadth,  with 
mounts  at  the  opposite  corners,  with  comfortable  and  convenient 
housing  within,  and  suitably  situated  for  the  settlement."  This 
work  stood  between  Honasada  Street  and  the  river,  near  the  bridge, 
and  upon  the  land  of  Nathaniel  Fairfield,  whose  name  it  took. 
This  was  not  far  from  the  four  corners,  now  Wendell  Square; 
and  the  expressions  of  the  memorialists  sustain  the  tradition  that 
that  was  then  considered  "  The  Centre." 

The  General  Court  granted  the  pay  and  subsistence  of  ten  men 
to  the  garrison  of  Fort  Fairfield,  from  the  1st  of  March  to  the  1st 
of  November  next  ensuing ;  and  provision  was  afterwards  made 
for  it,  from  time  to  time,  in  the  establishment  for  the  western 
frontier.  Hezekiah  Jones  was  appointed  commandant,  with  the 

1  The  centre  of  the  lands  owned  by  the  petitioners  was  about  where  Honasada 
Street  crosses  the  Housatonic  River. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  113 

rank  of  sergeant.  A  fourth  place  of  defence  was  afterwards  built 
upon  the  eminence  on  the  south-west  shore  of  Lake  Onota,1  which 
had  been  recommended  for  that  purpose  by  Col.  Israel  Williams  in 
1754.  At  what  date  it  was  actually  occupied  does  not  appear. 
In  1755,  Gen.  Dwight  reported  to  Gov.  Shirley  the  arrival 
of  sixty-five  Connecticut  soldiers  at  Stockbridge,  of  whom  twenty- 
five  were  destined  for  Poontoosuck,  to  take  the  place  of  those  who 
had  refused  to  work  at  fortifying.  And  he  suggested  that  some 
of  the  new  comers  were  "  specially  enjoined  "  for  work  of  that  kind ; 
and  as  Massachusetts  —  contrary  to  the  expectation  both  of  him- 
self and  Gov.  Shirley  —  was  required  to  furnish  them  subsist- 
ence, he  recommended  that  they  should  be  employed  in  erecting  a 
good  fortress  in  the  western  part  of  Poontoosuck.2 

Col.  Israel  "Williams  had,  in  1754,  urgently  pressed  the  building 
of  works  on  Ashley's  Hill,  which  he  pronounced  "  situated  best 
for  a  garrison  for  ye  protection  of  Stockbridge  and  for  scouting 
from;"  and  —  Gen.  Dwight  giving  his  earnest  opinion,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1756,  that  "  a  fort  there,  if  kept  well-manned,  would  be 
of  the  greatest  service"  —  it  was  probably  built  in  the  following 
summer.  When  finished,  it  was  the  especial  Province  fort  of  this 
portion  of  the  valley ;  looking  more  to  the  general  defence,  while 
the  others,  although  affording  great  protection  to  the  towns  and 
places  within,  were  located,  as  we  have  seen,  with  primary  reference 
to  the  defence  of  the  settlers  in  their  agricultural  labors. 

All  these  forts  were  mere  block-houses;  and  there  is  no  intima- 
tion that  any  of  them  mounted  so  much  as  a  swivel  in  the  way  of 
cannon  :  but  they  were  of  much  more  skilful  and  elaborate  construc- 
tion than  is  commonly  supposed,  as  will  appear  from  the  minute  de- 
scription we  are  able  to  give  of  Fort  Anson  and  the  more  scanty 
outlines  of  Forts  Fail-field  and  Massachusetts. 

The  "  establishment  on  the  western  frontier, "  as  the  garrisons 
of  the  forts  in  that  quarter  were  officially  styled,  fluctuated  in 
numbers,  as  fear  and  the  spirit  of  economy  alternately  prevailed 
among  the  legislators ;  but  often  a  new  alarm  reversed  an  order 
to  reduce  the  establishment  before  it  could  be  carried  into 


1  Then  called  Ashley  Pond,  from  the  residence  of  one  Ashley,  afterwards  a 
noted  Tory,  upon  the  site  of  the  fort. 

2  Mass.  Ar.  v.  54,  pp.  380-1. 

8 


114  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

effect.  The  forces  were  divided  between  headquarters  at  Fort 
Massachusetts,  and  some  half-dozen  smaller  works.  Probably  five 
hundred  men  could  have  been  rallied  to  defend  a  given  point; 
and  so  perfect  a  scout  was  kept  up  through  the  woods,  that  it 
was  impossible  for  any  considerable  body  of  the  enemy  to  approach 
without  timely  discovery.  In  this  service,  the  men  found  con- 
stant and  active  employment  when  not  otherwise  engaged  in 
garrison  duty  or  in  erecting  new  fortifications. 

The  largest  garrison  was  usually  stationed  at  Fort  Massachusetts ; 
and  another,  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  men,  at  West  Hoosack,  now 
Williamstown.  At  Lanesborough,  the  inhabitants  held  their  own, 
by  the  erection  of  a  fort,  or  block-house,  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
township,  in  which  their  plantation  was  organized  in  1759.  Poon- 
toosuck was  usually  allowed  a  garrison  of  about  thirty  men ;  to 
which  Connecticut  sometimes  added  a  detachment  of  the  troops 
which  she  maintained  in  Massachusetts  for  the  defence  of  her  own 
frontier.  The  settlers,  mustered  in  alternately  as  soldiers,  were 
occasionally  employed  upon  detached  service  at  Fort  Massachusetts, 
Stockbridge,  and  probably  at  other  points :  once,  at  least,  at  Bland- 
ford,  for  a  few  weeks  in  1755.  With  the  exceptions  mentioned,  the 
country  northward  from  Poontoosuck  to  Canada  was  an  unbroken 
wilderness;  and  although  the  few  posts  above  diminished  in  some 
degree  the  perils  of  those  who  guarded  the  lower  passes,  yet,  in 
scouting  their  own  wild  neighborhood,  the  soldiery  at  Poontoosuck 
must  have  been  subject  to  no  small  danger,  as  well  as  to  privation 
and  fatigue.  It  was  at  the  risk  of  his  scalp  that  the  hunter  from 
Fort  Anson  singly  chased  the  deer  to  the  foot  of  the  Hoosacks ;  and, 
if  he  sought  his  venison  along  the  bases  of  the  Taconics,  it  became 
an  interesting  question  whether  he  might  not  himself  furnish  mate- 
rial for  the  roast.  Luckily,  the  trout  leaped  by  thousands  in  the 
rivers  and  lakes;  for  the  mountain  brooks  dashed  through  tabooed 
ground,  and  Lulu  Cascade  might  have  proved  as  fatal  as  a  foun- 
tain in  the  desert  to  the  adventurous  sportsman  who  was  tempted 
by  its  pool. 

Tradition  is  garrulous  of  encounters  in  the  township,  both 
before  and  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  between  the  white 
man  and  the  red,  with  fatal  results  to  the  latter ;  but  these  stories 
are  happily  discredited  by  the  fact,  that  no  mention  of  them  is 
made  in  contemporary  reports,  in  which  every  indication  of  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  on  the  border  was  scrupulously  noted,  and 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  115 

whose  writers  were  well  informed  of  every  incident  which  happened 
at  Poontoosuck.  Two  Indians  were,  however,  killed  near  the  Fort 
at  Lanesborough ; 1  and  the  universal  belief  that  the  woods,  up  to 
the  very  walls  of  the  forts,  were  full  of  hostile  savages,  must  have 
had  some  foundation  in  fact. 

During  the  war,  several  of  the  regiments  destined  for  the  various 
expeditions  against  Crown  Point,  Ticonderoga,  and  Canada,  passed 
through  Poontoosuck  ;  among  them,  in  1755,  that  of  Sir  William 
Pepperell,  in  which  William  Williams  served  as  captain,  and,  in 
1758,  that  which  the  latter  officer  commanded  as  colonel.  Most 
of  these  bodies  halted  for  rest  at  Poontoosuck;  and  Williams 
showed  his  interest  in  the  plantation  by  persuading  Gen.  Pepperell 
to  leave  twenty-six  men  for  its  protection,  —  a  detail  which  was 
disapproved  by  the  General  Court,  who  requested  Gov.  Shirley  to 
order  its  discontinuance.  Relics  of  the  presence  of  the  troops  of  the 
Province  in  Poontoosuck  during  this  war  are  still  occasionally 
found.  Very  recently  buttons  bearing  the  inscription,  "  Massachu- 
setts 8th  Reg.,"  were  dug  up  near  Lake  Onota.  It  is  said,  that, 
some  forty  years  ago,  a  veteran  passing  this  way,  declared  that  he 
had  belonged  to  one  of  the  regiments  which  halted  here  in  the 
the  second  French  and  Indian  war,  and  related  that  the  colonel, 
finding  that  his  men  suffered  from  the  lack  of  exercise,  marched 
them  to  a  spot  where  stood  three  gigantic  white  oak-trees,  one  of 
which  they  cut  down.  On  being  put  to  the  test,  he  pointed  out 
the  spot ;  and  the  stumps  of  the  trees,  which  are  of  a  kind  rare  in 
this  vicinity,  were  found  as  he  had  described  them. 

It  was  on  these  marches  that  some  who  were  subsequently  citi- 
zens of  Pittsfield  first  became  acquainted,  perhaps  more  inti- 
mately than  was  agreeable,  with  its  soil.  Names  afterwards  familiar 
to  its  history  are  found  on  the  muster-rolls  of  the  towns  of  West- 
field,  Springfield,  and  Northampton.  Among  those  from  West- 
field  were  David  Noble,  who  organized  and  led  the  company  of 
minute-men  which  marched  from  Pittsfied  on  the  news  of  Lexinor- 

O 

ton  fight;  and  Oliver  Root,  a  noted  officer  of  the  Revolution.  The 
latter  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Root,  one  of  the  forty  pioneers,  who 
had  died  before  completing  his  plans  of  removal  to  Poontoosuck. 
Oliver  was  born  at  Westfield,  Nov.  24,  1741,  and,  when  of  a  proper 
age,  was  apprenticed  to  a  worthy  shoemaker  of  that  town.  When 
the  war  of  1754  broke  out,  he  was,  of  course,  a  mere  child;  but  he 

1  Holland's  Hist.  West.  Mass. 


116  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

soon  grew  a  stout  youth,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  law  which 
permitted  apprentices  to  enlist,  he  joined  a  company  raised  in  his 
native  place,  and  marched  to  Albany  by  the  road  cut  in  1753, 
along  the  Westfield  River  and  through  Poontoostick. 

This  road  was  but  a  narrow  path  for  pack-horses ;  and  Col.  Root 
described  that  portion  of  it  which  lay  in  Poontoosuck  as  in  horrible 
condition.  No  less  than  five  hemlock  swamps,  some  of  them  most 
formidable  bogs,  lay  between  the  Hoosacs  and  the  Taconics.  In 
these  the  horses  were  constantly  mired ;  and  the  men  were  com- 
pelled to  carry  the  poor  beasts  through,  with  their  burthens  upon 
them,  by  main  strength.  This  was  effected  by  a  file  of  soldiers  on 
each  side,  who  passed  the  bands  by  which  their  muskets  were 
commonly  slung,  under  the  bellies  of  the  animals,  and  so  went 
marching  along.  Perhaps  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  same 
shocking  state  of  the  road,  that  Capt.  Edward  Ward,  in  his  account 
with  the  Province,  still  preserved  in  the  State  archives,  has  an 
extra  charge  of  "£1.  10s.  to  cash  paid  for  transporting  my  baggage 
through  Poontoosuck." 

Reaching  the  seat  of  war,  Oliver  Root  had  the  good  fortune,  as 
the  brave  and  adventurous  young  soldier  esteemed  it,  to  be  as- 
signed to  the  famous  Corps  of  Rangers  organized  by  Major  Robert 
Rogers.  Into  this  corps,  the  strictest  care  was  taken  to  admit  none 
but  men  of  the  hardiest  constitution,  accustomed  to  hunt  and  travel 
in  the  woods,  and  in  whose  courage  and  fidelity  the  utmost  confi- 
dence could  be  placed.  Among  its  officers  were  John  Stark  and 
Israel  Putnam,  with  others  of  the  same  character,  and  a  rank  and 
file  of  similar  material;  who,  together,  made  up  the  most  splendid 
Corps  of  Rangers  known  in  history. 

Besides  their  arms,  their  only  accoutrements  were  a  tin  cup  and 
a  single  blanket  for  each  man  ;  their  simple  rations  a  little  parched 
corn  pounded  to  a  coarse  meal. 

Singly,  or  in  parties,  they  lay  down  to  rest  wherever  inclination 
and  opportunity  found  them,  with  no  shelter  but  their  blankets. 
Their  strength  was  sustained,  and  their  unparnpered  appetites  satis- 
fied, with  a  little  corn  stirred  in  their  cups  with  water  dipped  from 
the  wayside  brook  or  spring;  although  they  did  not  forbear  to 
forage  for  choicer  viands  when  circumstances  favored,  nor  disdain 
the  game  with  which  the  forest  abounded,  when  prudence  did  not 
forbid  the  noise  necessary  for  its  capture,  or  the  smoke  which 
would  ai'ise  in  cooking  it. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  117 

Throughout  the  war,  the  Rangers  performed  the  most  perilous 
services ;  and  their  exploits  were  as  important  to  the  expeditionary 
forces  as  they  were  dashing  in  their  gallantry  and  thrilling  in  their 
hairbreadth  adventures.  The  fate  of  Braddock  had  taught  the 
British  commanders  a  lesson  not  easily  forgotten ;  and  the  Rangers, 
in  every  battle  of  the  armies  to  which  they  were  attached,  were 
placed  in  the  van.  In  all  marches,  they  piloted  the  way,  and, 
scouting  along  the  edges  of  the  columns,  rendered  surprise  or  am- 
buscade impossible.  Always  on  the  alert,  they  patrolled  the  forests 
in  all  directions  ;  making  prisoners  of  unwary  enemies,  skirmishing 
with  exposed  outposts,  rescuing  captured  friends,  and  giving  warn- 
ing to  those  in  danger,  until  they  surpassed  the  red  man  in  his  own 
craft,  and  became  the  terror  of  Frenchman  and  hostile  Indian. 
For  the  dangers  and  privations  inseparable  from  such  a  life,  the 
Rangers  found  compensation,  not  in  the  slight  superiority  of  their 
pay  to  that  of  the  soldiers  of  the  line,  but  amply  in  the  wild  and 
adventurous  life  which  they  led,  and  in  the  privileges  and  exemp- 
tion from  military  routine  which  their  corps  enjoyed,  although 
held  to  the  severest  discipline  in  their  own  line  of  duty. 

In  such  warfare  as  this,  the  future  Col.  Root,  like  many  other 
officers  of  the  Revolution,  found  his  military  school,  and  became 
familiar  with  hardship  and  danger,  as  well  in  the  recesses  of  the 
forest  as  on  the  ensanguined  ground  before  Ticonderoga. 

With  the  advent  of  peace  in  1760,  he  returned  to  Westfield. 
The  law  freed  enlisted  apprentices  from  all  claim  by  their  masters 
upon  their  earnings  :  but  our  young  Oliver  did  not  find  it  consist- 
ent with  his  notions  of  integrity  to  avail  himself  of  its  provisions ; 
and,  upon  his  return  home,  he  brought  his  bounty-money,  and  as 
much  of  his  pay  as  by  careful  economy  he  had  been  able  to  save, 
and  delivered  them  to  his  master,  saying,  in  substance,  "This 
money  I  might  legally  retain,  but  justly  and  rightfully  it  is  yours : 
take  it." l 

It  is  pleasant  to  know,  that,  when  his  apprenticeship  was  com- 
pleted, Oliver  was  taken  by  his  master  to  Pittsfield,  and  there 
established  by  him  upon  the  farm  inherited  from  his  father. 

1  The  same  simple-minded  integrity  characterized  Col.  Root  throughout  life : 
and,  in  his  old  age,  he  refused  to  apply  for  the  pension  to  which  he  was  en- 
titled as  an  officer  of  the  Continental  army  ;  maintaining  that  the  act  of  Congress 
could  only  have  been  intended  for  the  benefit  of  those  veterans  who  had  no  other 
means  of  support,  while  he,  although  not  wealthy,  was  comfortably  well  off. 


118  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Aii  inspection  of  the  rolls,  in  connection  with  corroborating  cir- 
cumstances, leads  to  the  belief  that  nearly  all  the  settlers  of  Pitts- 
field  who  were  of  a  suitable  age  served  in  the  last  French  and 
Indian  war,  either  in  the  marching  regiments  or  in  the  resident 
garrisons. 

The  services  of  Col.  Williams  were  conspicuous.  In  January, 
1755,  he  received  a  letter  from  his  old  friend  and  commander,  Sir 
William  Pepperell  (Lane.  Col.),  which,  after  some  moderately- 
bitter  complaint  of  the  ill  requital  of  their  services  at  Louisburg, 
expressed  his  intention  to  overlook  past  ingratitude,  and  raise  a  regi- 
ment for  the  first  expedition  against  Canada  in  the  new  war,  in 
which  he  offered  Lieut.-Col.  Williams  a  captaincy,  regretting  that 
he  could  at  the  time  do  no  better  by  him,  but  promising  him  his 
influence  for  future  promotion.  Col.  Williams  accepted  the  prop- 
osition, and  served  for  three  campaigns  without  advance  of  rank. 
This  deferment  of  promotion  arose  from  a  difficulty  into  which 
Capt.  Williams  fell  with  Sir  William  Johnson ;  whose  pets,  the 
Iroquois,  he  had  grossly  insulted  and  enraged,  by  charging  them 
with  treachery  to  the  English  cause,  disarming  them,  and  threaten- 
ing extreme  measures  if  they  were  in  his  power.  For  this  he 
was  imprisoned  by  Johnson  at  Albany,  but  seems  to  have  de- 
fended or  excused  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Massachusetts 
authorities ;  for,  in  the  spring  of  1758,  he  received  a  colonel's  com- 
mission from  Gov.  Pownal,  and  raised  a  regiment  which,  in  camp 
at  Poontoosuck,  June  5,  1758,  numbered  906  men.1  With  this 
corps  he  took  part  in  Abercrombie's  unsuccessful  expedition  against 
Ticonderoga,  and  was  in  the  memorable  and  sanguinary  attack 
upon  that  post,  July  5,  1758 ;  of  which  he  wrote  a  most  thrilling 
and  interesting  account.  With  this  campaign  ended  his  active 
career  as  a  military  man. 

1  In  August,  William  Williams,  son  of  the  colonel,  who  had  been  surgeon's 
mate  in  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  regiment  at  the  time  that  gallant  officer  was 
slain,  and  had  behaved  very  creditably  in  that  affair,  was  appointed  surgeon  in  his 
father's  regiment.  He  died  a  few  years  later  of  small-pox. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PLANTATION  ORGANIZATION  RESUMED. 
[1759-1761.] 

Proprietors'-Meetings,  1759-60.  — Vote  to  sell  the  Lands  of  Delinquent  Tax-payers. 
—  Committees  to  hire  a  Minister.  —  Col.  VV  illiams's  First  Election  as  Clerk.  — 
Highways  and  Bridges.  —  Highway-Surveyors'  Districts  formed.  —  Condition 
of  the  Settlers  at  the  Close  of  the  War.  —  Partition  of  the  Commons. 

rTIHE  last  item  of  the  plantation  records  prior  to  their  sus- 
_1_  pension  on  account  of  the  Indian  troubles  was  the  oath 
subscribed,  Aug.  12,  1754,  by  Hezekiah  Jones  and  David  Bush, 
faithfully  to  perform  their  duties  as  assessors ;  to  which  office  they, 
with  William  Wright,  had  been  elected.  The  next  entry  was  the 
warrant  of  those  gentlemen,  issued  Sept.  16,  1758,  for  a  meeting 
of  the  Proprietors,  to  be  held  on  the  2d  of  October,  at  the  house 
of  Nathaniel  Fail-field,  —  the  same  which  the  General  Court 
accepted  the  next  winter,  as  "  one  of  its  garrisons." 

The  meeting  chose  Stephen  Crofoot  moderator,  and  Eli  Root 
collector  of  taxes ;  continued  the  old  assessors  in  office ;  appointed 
Deacon  Crofoot,  Sergeant  Jones,  and  Ephraim  Stiles  a  committee 
to  hire  a  minister;  laid  a  tax  of  six  shillings  upon  each  lot  to  pay 
him ;  and  instructed  the  assessors  to  sell  the  lands  of  such  as 
refused  to  discharge  their  rates.  The  apparent  object  of  the 
meeting  was  to  procure  a  chaplain  for  the  fort,  as  no  inhabitants 
of  other  parts  of  the  plantation  seem  to  have  taken  part  in  it ; 
but  a  suspicion  of  sharp  practice  attaches  to  the  vote  to  sell  the' 
lands  of  those  who  refused  to  pay  their  rates,  at  a  time  when 
many  of  the  proprietors  were  dispersed  at  a  distance,  —  some  of 
them  with  the  army  at  the  front,  —  and  others  were  straitened  in 
their  resources  by  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country. 

In  the  fall  of  1758,  the  colonists  had  cause  to  be  inspirited ;  but 

119 


120  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  more  thoughtful  rejoiced  with  trembling.  The  advantages 
gained  by  the  English  arms  in  the  campaign  just  closed  inspired 
confidence  in  their  ultimate  success,  which  the  event  justified; 
but,  as  late  as  the  spring  of  that  year,  murders  had  been  committed 
by  the  Indians  at  Coleraine,  and  many  months  passed  before  the 
inhabitants  of  towns  much  farther  within  the  border  experienced 
a  sense  of  safety.  It  is  not  merely  in  the  gloom  of  the  sufferings 
which  they  actually  underwent,  that  we  are  to  consider  the  plan- 
tations ;  but  in  the  shadow  of  those  which  they  had  abundant 
reason  to  dread  as  well.  And  not  until  the  fall  of  Quebec, — 
not,  indeed,  fully  until  the  cession  of  1763,  —  could  their  fears  be 
entirely  dispelled.  Stockbridge,  in  1759,  applied  with  earnestness 
to  the  General  Court  for  aid;  stating  that  it  "had  fifty  men  in  the 
service,  which  weakened  its  garrison  for  home  defence,  and  left  it 
almost  as  much  exposed  as  Poontoosuck? 

Plainly  the  time  had  not  come  for  any  proceedings,  in  plan- 
tation-meeting, which  would  seriously  affect  the  owners  of  lands 
not  immediately  under  the  protection  of  the  forts ;  and  the  voters 
at  the  meeting  in  question  confessed  as  much,  by  refusing  to  make 
appropriations  for  highways  and  bridges. 

Affairs,  however,  began  gradually  to  resume  the  aspect  which 
they  had  worn  before  the  war.  A  second  meeting  of  the  Pro- 
prietors, held  Jan.  29,  although  it  did  little  more  than  repeat  the 
action  of  that  in  October,  was  less  limited  in  its  attendance.  It 
was  resolved  that  the  old  assessors,  clerk,  and  collector  should 
continue  to  "  stand  "  in  their  several  offices ;  but  Jesse  Sackett  was 
made  treasurer,  in  place  of  Charles  Goodrich.  David  Bush,  Jacob 
Ensign,  and  Josiah  Wright  were  substituted  for  the  former  "  com- 
mittee to  hire  a  minister."  An  increasing  sense  of  security  from 
savage  provvlings  was  manifested  by  holding  the  meeting  at  the 
house  of  the  clerk,  David  Bush,  some  rods  west  of  the  fort,  and  by 
restoring  that  as  the  place  designated  for  posting  up  legal  notices. 

At  the  next  meeting,  —  May  21,  adjourned  to  May  30,  1759, 
—  matters  began  to  take  more  definite  form.  Col.  Williams, 
•having  returned  from  the  wars,  began  his  long  course  of  civil  ser- 
vice in  the  office  of  Proprietors'  clerk,  taking  the  qualifying  oath, 
"  Coram  John  Ashley,  Jus.  Peace."  The  preaching  of  the  gospel 
was  put  upon  a  little  more  permanent  footing  by  the  appointment 
of  Charles  Goodrich,  Stephen  Crofoot,  and  William  Williams 
"  to  hire  some  man,  from  time  to  time,  to  preach  among  us."  The 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  121 

committee  was  to  have  some  fixedness,  however  it  might  prove 
with  the  minister.  The  attention  of  the  meeting  was  specially 
given  to  highways  and  bridges.  Some  good  beginning  had  been 
made  in  this  direction  before  the  war;  and  during  its  continuance, 
although  the  more  remote  roads  must  have  retrograded  in  condi- 
tion, those  favorably  situated  for  protection,  and  those  required  for 
military  purposes,  were  improved.  Prior  to  1753,  some  county 
roads  had  been  laid  out  and  worked  ;  including  that  now  Wendell 
Street;  and  that  which,  commencing  near  the  present  junction  of 
Wendell  and  Elm  Streets,  formed  the  east  road  to  Lanesborough. 
Changes  had  also  begun  to  be  made  in  the  rectangular  town-roads, 
which  it  would  be  a  laborious  task  now  to  trace.  Doubts  already 
existed  as  to  the  true  line  of  West  Street,  and  encroachments 
upon  all  the  highways  were  complained  of.  Three  bridges  were 
standing,  —  that  described  in  the  previous  chapter  as  built  by  Dea- 
con Crofoot,  and  those  respectively  near  the  present  crossings  of  the 
Housatoriic  by  West  and  South  Streets.  The  record  of  the  action 
of  this  meeting  concerning  highways  and  bridges  exhibits  clearly 
the  manner  of  doing  that  kind  of  town  business ;  and,  as  it  is  in 
other  respects  characteristic,  we  quote  in  full :  — 

"  Voted :  That  eighteen  pounds  be  raised  for  repairing  the  public  and 
private  ways  within  this  township  this  year;  and  that  twelve  pounds  be 
raised  to  build  a  bridge  over  the  river  in  the  country  road,  where  it  runs 
through  Nathaniel  Fairfield's  lot ;  and  that  Jacob  Ensign,  Eli  Boot,  and 
Abner  Dewey  be  a  committee  to  procure  the  materials,  inspect  the  work, 
and  see  it  forthwith  accomplished,  and  empowered  to  let  said  work  out  by 
the  great,  or  employ  the  proprietors  at  day-labor ;  that  nine  pounds  fifteen 
shillings  be  raised  and  allowed  to  Charles  Goodrich,  as  it  shall  become  due 
from  him  for  his  rates  upon  his  settling  lots,  he  building  a  good  and  sufficient 
bridge  over  the  river,  in  the  country  road,  near  his  house.  He  giving  bond 
(according  to  his  own  proposal)  to  the  Proprietors'  clerk  to  finish  it  in  two 
months  from  this  day,  and  keep  it  in  repair  twenty  years  next  ensuing ;  and 
that  the  builders  of  the  South  Bridge  should  be  paid  for  it,  at  the  rate  of 
highway  work,  on  condition  that  David  Bush,  to  the  Proprietors'  clerk,  gives 
bond  to  keep  an  open  road,  during  their  pleasure,  two  rods  wide,  from  the 
highway  or  town-road  down  the  river,  where  the  path  is  now  trod,  two  rods 
wide,  to  said  bridge ;  and  from  the  said  bridge  southerly,  two  rods  wide,  to 
the  aforesd.  road ;  and  that  the  builders  of  the  west  bridge  be  paid  at  the 
same  rate,  upon  condition  Josiah  Wright  gives  bond  as  aforesd.  for  free 
passage  to  and  from  it  with  horses,  carriages,  &c.,  during  pleasure,  in  case  it 
proves  to  stand  on  his  lot. 


122  HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD. 

"Voted:  That  £9.  1.  4.  be  now  raised  to  pay  Deacon  Crowfoot  for 
building  the  bridge  over  the  river  in  his  lot ;  and  that  the  assessors  forthwith 
make  a  rate,  including  all  the  aforesd.  grants  of  money ;  and  that  the  builders 
of  the  south  and  west  bridges,  as  soon  as  may  be,  bring  in  their  accounts  to 
the  assessors,  or  be  excluded  in  this  present  assessment." 

At  this  meeting,  the  first  division  of  "  all  the  public  and  private 
roads"  into  Highway-surveyors'  districts  was  made,  with  the 
following  bounds;  and  the  surveyors,  whose  names  are  given, 
were  assigned  to  them  for  the  following  year :  — 

No.  1.  —  From  the  west  line  of  the  township  to  the  West  River. 
Daniel  Hubbard,  surveyor. 

No.  2.  —  Between  the  East  and  West  Rivers,  including  the  two 
bridges,  east  and  west.  Sylvanus  Piercey,  surveyor. 

No.  3.  —  All  the  roads  east  of  the  East  River,  and  the  county 
road.  William  Williams,  surveyor. 

The  building  of  bridges,  the  re-arrangement  of  the  roads,  and 
the  adjustment  of  taxes  so  that  they  might  be  conveniently  paid 
in  labor  or  material,  occupied  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  early 
plantation-meetings,  even  when  compared  with  the  large  space 
which  kindred  subjects  claim  in  the  town-business  of  the  present 
day. 

While  affairs  at  Poontoosuck  were  resuming  the  routine  which 
the  Indian  mischief  had  so  rudely  interrupted,  the  conquest  of 
Canada  was  finally  accomplished ;  and  when,  soon  afterwards,  the 
storm  of  war  ceased,  the  threatening  cloud,  which,  through  every 
former  peace,  had  lowered  along  the  northern  horizon,  was  dissi- 
pated forever.-  In  1759-60,  the  omens  were  so  auspicious  that  the 
most  timorous  and  exposed  settlers  began  to  take  heart  for  the 
future,  and  enter  upon  measures  to  repair  their  losses. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  proprietors  had  kept  their  resi- 
dence more  or  less  closely  with  the  plantation  through  all  its 
dangers;  and  some,  if  not  the  majority,  had,  in  this  perilous 
sojourning,  the  companionship  of  their  wives.  Others  removed 
their  families  to  the  old  Connecticut- Valley  homes,  and  held 
themselves  in  readiness,  either  to  serve  in  garrison  at  Poontoosuck, 
scout  the  neighboring  forests,  or  join  in  the  more  distant  and 
formal  expeditions.  Thus,  it  is  narrated  of  Nathaniel  Fairfield, 
that,  on  the  first  mischief  by  the  Indians,  be  escorted  his  wife  to 
Westfield,  somewhat  less  leisurely  than  on  their  bridal  tour  they 
had  come  through  the  Green  Woods,  and,  leaving  her  there, 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  123 

served  for  six  months  in  the  army.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
term  he  re-visited  his  clearing,  and  "found  his  cow  and  oxen  safe, 
but  grown  so  fat  as  to  be  unfit  for  use : "  but  let  us  hope  par- 
ticularly nice  eating  for  the  gallant  garrison. 

The  planters  found  the  advantage  of  their  persistent  clinging  to 
the  place,  in  the  comparatively  slight  deterioration  of  their  farms ; 
although  some,  and  especially  those  in  the  western  part  of  the 
plantation,  suffered  from  the  neglect  compelled  by  their  exposed 
location. 

Those  settlers  who  could  cultivate  their  lands  at  all  during  the 
war  may  have  found  some  compensation  for  the  difficulties  under 
which  they  labored,  in  the  near  and  profitable  market  afforded  by 
the  ai'my  commissariat ;  but  whether  this  relief  was  experienced  to 
any  appreciable  extent,  we  are  unable  to  say.  It  is  certain,  that,  if 
any  losses  were  thus  lightened,  they  were  those  which  without  this 
mitigation  would  have  been  least  ruinous  to  the  sufferers.  The 
lands  under  the  protection  of  the  forts  belonged  to  the  wealthier 
planters.  The  diversion  of  their  industry  from  the  purposes  upon 
which  they  intended  to  bestow  it,  and  the  idleness  in  which  they 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  capital,  impoverished  the  settlers 
generally  in  proportion  as  their  interests  were  confined  to,  and  their 
capital  invested  in,  Poontoosuck.  But,  upon  the  whole,  the  planta- 
tion was  in  a  better  condition  than  was  to  have  been  anticipated  to 
resume  its  progress,  and  rapidly  increase  to  proportions  which 
would  justify  its  incorporation  as  a  town.  Preliminary  to  that 
measure,  however,  and  as  a  means  of  still  further  adding  to  the 
population,  a  new  partition  of  the  Commons,  in  place  of  that 
which  had  been  annulled,  became  necessary, —  a  proceeding  which 
was  also  demanded  by  the  greatly  increased  number  of  the  joint 
proprietors,  several  of  whom  were  desirous  of  immediately  en- 
joying their  rights  in  severalty. 

As  early  as  June,  1743,  Philip  Livingston,  in  consideration  of 
£3000,  current  money,  sold  his  third  of  the  Commons  lands  to 
Ephraim  Williams,  Esq.,  of  Stockbridge,  John  Brewer  of  Town- 
ship No.  1  (Tyringham),  near  Stockbridge,  Elisha  Jones  of  Wes- 
ton,  Israel  Williams  and  Moses  Graves  of  Hatfield.  Jones  im- 
mediately sold  a  quarter  part  of  his  purchase  to  Col.  Oliver  Part- ' 
ridge  of  Hatfield,  and  Rev.  William  Williams  of  Weston ;  and  the 
latter,  in  1756,  "in  consideration  of  love  and  affection,"  transferred 
his  rights  to  his  son  Solomon,  who,  dying  soon  after,  left  them  to 


124  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

his  brother,  Col.  William.  Ephraim  Williams,  one  of  the  founders 
of  Stockbridge,  died  in  1754,  leaving  his  Poontoosuck  lands  to  his 
more  distinguished  son,  the  colonel  of  the  same  name,  who  was 
killed  the  next  year  in  battle.  The  lands  in  1759  were  in  the  hands 
of  Cols.  John  Worthington  and  Israel  Williams,  as  trustees  for  the 
legatees  of  Col.  Williams ;  of  which  the  chief  was  the  free  school, 
that,  afterwards  established  at  Williamstown,  became  Williams 
College,1 

Col.  Wendell  had,  as  has  been  related,  sold  one-third  of  his  in- 
terest—  that  is,  one-ninth  of  the  Commons  —  to  Charles  Goodrich. 

Col.  Stoddard  dying  in  1748,  left  issue,  —  Mary,  Prudence,  Solo- 
mon, Esther,  and  Israel,  who,  with  their  mother  and  guardian, 
Madame  Prudence,  inherited  his  property.  The  daughters  had 
their  portion  of  the  estate  assigned  elsewhere:  all  the  children, 
except  Israel,  had  become  of  age  in  1759.  Only  the  widow  and 
her  sons  received  lands  in  the  partition  of  the  Poontoosuck 
Commons. 

Capt.  Brewer's  right  had  been  transferred  to  some  of  the  other 
proprietors.2 

Wendell,  Jones,  William  Williams  for  his  brother's  heirs,  and 
Graves,  probably  with  the  consent  of  their  co-tenants,  applied  to 
the  Superior  Court,  Hampshire  September  Term,  1759,  for  a  com- 
mission of  freeholders  to  make  partition  of  the  lands  held  in 
common  at  Poontoosuck;  and  the  following  gentlemen,  having 
been  accordingly  appointed,  took  the  qualifying  oath  previous  to  the 
1st  of  January :  Major  John  Ashley,  Capt.  Ebenezer  Hitchcock, 
Capt.  Nathaniel  Dwight,  John  Chadbourne,  and  Daniel  Brown. 
The  warrant  for  division  was  dated  — pro  forma  at  Boston  —  Oct. 
20,  1759.  The  Commissioners'  Report,  according  to  the  plan 

1  The  Promised  Land,   described   among  the  hills  of  Pittsfield,  formed  part 
of  the  allotment  to  the  heirs  of  Col.  Ephraim  Williams  in  the  partition  of  the 
Commons,  as  did  also  the  beautiful  place  now  known  as  "  Onota,"  —  the  noble 
grounds  attached  to  the  residence  of  Wm.  C.Allen,  Esq.,  on  the  south-eastern  shore 
of  the  lake  of  that  name. 

2  The  costs  of  partition,  £70,  were  assessed  one-third  each  to  Wendell  and  the 
heirs  of  Stoddard ;  one-ninth  to  Moses  Graves ;  one-twelfth  to  Charles  Goodrich  j 

.one-eighteenth  to  Elisha  Jones  ;  one-thirty-sixth  to  Col.  Partridge  ;  and  the  same 
proportion  to  the  heirs  of  Col.  Ephraim  and  Dr.  Solomon  Williams,  respectively. 
Probably  Col.  Wendell,  in  his  sale  to  Goodrich,  had  agreed  to  pay  the  cost  of 
partition ;  and  the  amount  assessed  to  the  latter  may  have  been  upon  an  interest 
purchased  by  him  of  Brewer. 


HISTORY    OF   PITTSFIELD. 


125 


here  given,  was  received  at  the  Registry  of  Deeds  in  Springfield, 
Feb.  6,  1761 ;  and  recorded  by  Edward  Pynehon,  in  Book  2, 
p.  510. 


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\SOUTH POND/ 


PLAN  OF  1759. 


A  Plan  of  the  Township  called  Poontoosuck,  in  the  County  of  Hampshire  and 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay ;  viz.,  of  all  the  settling-lots,  as  they  were  sur- 
veyed by  Capt.  John  Huston :  and  also  a  lands  in  said  township 

were  surveyed  and  hounded  out  hy  Nathaniel  Dwight,  in 

of  the  year  1759,  and  as  it  was  set  out  to  each  proprietor  in  January,  in  the  year 
1760,  with  each  proprietor's  name  set  on  his  lot,  with  the  nnmher  of  the  lot,  and 
the  number  of  acres  therein  contained,  by  John  Ashley,  Esq. ;  Capt.  Eben  Hitch- 
cock ;  Nathaniel  Dwight,  Esq. ;  John  Chadwick ;  and  Daniel  Brown,— a  Committee 
appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  Court  of  Assize,  held  at  Springfield  in  Septem- 
ber last.  Planned  on  a  scale  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  perch  in  an  inch. 

Per  Nathaniel  Dwight,  Surveyor. 

Signed,  NATHANIEL  DWIGHT,  by  order  of  the  Committee. 

Jan.  4,  1760. 

[On  the  original  plan,  each  square  is  marked  with  the  name  of  the  proprietor  to 
whom  it  was  assigned,  the  number  of  acres  it  contained,  and  the  quality  of  the 
land.  These  particulars  are  transferred  to  the  table  below.  Some  other  inscrip- 
tions, added  by  a  later  hand,  are  included  in  parentheses.] 


126  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Square  No.    1.  — Mr.  Charles  Goodrich,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.    2.  —  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.    3.  —  [This  square,  and  part  of  adjoining  land,  were  subdivided,  for 

reasons  which  are  explained  in  the  text.     The  subdivisions 

are  indicated  by  letters.] 

A.  —  Col.  Jones,  35  acres. 

B.  —  Col.  Partridge,  19  acres. 

C.  —  Col.  Eph.  Williams's  heirs,  21  acres. 

D.  —  Goodrich,  31  acres. 

E.  —  Col.  Wm.  Williams,  25  acres,  2  rods. 

F.  —  Goodrich,  1 7  acres. 

G.  —  Wendell  and  Sol.  Stoddard,  100  acres. 

"      No.    4.  —  Charles  Goodrich,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.    5.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(Fold  Dickinson.) 

"      No.    6.  —  Sol.  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch. 
"      No.    7.  —  Ministry,  1 1 5  acres,  no  rods,  32  perch. 

Minister,  115  acres,  no  rods,  32  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.    8.  —  Col.  Partridge,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.    9.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  222  acres,  1  rod,  20  perch.     1st  rate 

(I.  W.,  — E.  R.) 

Col.  Eph.  Williams's  heirs,  86  acres.     1  st  rate. 
"      No.  10.  —  A. — Mr.  Israel  Stoddard,  170  acres.     1st  rate.     • 

B.  —  Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  60  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  11.  —  Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  12.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(I.  M.  W.  — O.  W.  x.) 

"      No.  13.  —  Mrs.  Prudence  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  14.  —  Sol.  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  15.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  1 99  acres,  excluding  pond.    3d  rate. 

(J.  W.) 

"      No.  16.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(Hn.  W.  —  O.  W.  x.) 

"      No.  17.  —  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  18. —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(Sold  Easton  x.) 

"      No.  19.  — Israel  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  20.  — Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  21.  —  A.  —  Mrs.  Prudence  Stoddard,  85  acres,  no  rods,  35  perch. 

B.  —  Sol.  Stoddard,  85  acres,  no  rods,  35  perch. 

C.  — Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  66  acres. 

"  No.  22.  —  Sol.  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

"  No.  23.  — Col.  Stoddard,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

"  No.  24.  —  Mrs.  Prudence  Stoddard,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     3d  rate. 

"  No.  25.  —  Prudence  Stoddard,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch. 

"  No.  26.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(O.  W.  cleared  60  acres.) 

"  No.  27.  — Prudence  Stoddard,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  127 

Square  No.  28.  —  1st  rate.    A.  — Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  310  acres,  2  rods,  21  perch. 

B.  —  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  103  acres,  2  rods,  21  perch. 
"      No.  29.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(H.  N.  W.  — O.  W.  x.) 

"      No.  30.  —  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  282  acres,  3  rods,  no  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  31.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(J.  W.  M.  P.) 

"      No.  32.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  242  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(J.  W.    J.  W.,  Jr's,  heirs.) 
"      No.  33  —  Col.  Wendell,  223  acres,  2  rods  25  perch.     3d  rate. 

( J.  W.  A.  &  S.  W.  —  m  6  —  100.) 
"      No.  34.  —  3d  rate.    A.  —  Col.  Partridge,  23  acres. 

B.  — Lieut.  Graves,  6|  acres. 

C.  —  Col.  Eph.  Williams's  heirs,  119  acres,  2  rods,  no 

perch. 

"      No.  35.  —  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  254  acres.    3d  rate. 
"      No.  36.  —  Mrs.  Prudence  Stoddard,  254  acres.     2d  rate. 

(Janes  &  Brown.) 

"      No.  37.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  296  acres,  3  rods,  no  perch.    2d  rate. 

(J.W.  —  A.  &  S.  W.) 

"      No.  38.  —  Mrs.  P.  Stoddard,  251  acres.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  39.  —  Col.  Wm.  JVilliams,  103  acres,  2  rods,  21  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  40.  —  Wm.  Williams,  248  acres.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  41.  —  2d  rate.    A.  —  Sol.  Stoddard,  90  acres. 
B.  —  Col.  Wendell,  163  acres. 

(E.  M.W.    0.  W.  x.) 

"      No.  42. — 2d  rate.    A. — Partridge,  207  acres. 
B.  —  Col.  Jones,  26  acres. 

"      No.  43.  —  School-land,  262  acres,  3  rods,  no  perch.     3d  rate. 
"      No.  44.  — 3d  rate.     A.  —  Ministry,  112  acres,  no  rods,  8  perch. 

B.  —  Minister's  Lot,  151  acres,  2  rods,  8  perch. 
"      No.  45.  — Mr.  Charles  Goodrich,  150  acres.     1st  rate. 
"       No.  46.  —  Mr.  Israel  Stoddard,  240  acres.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  47. — Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  240  acres.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  48.  —  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  240  acres.     1st  rate. 
"       No.  49.  —  Mr.  Charles  Goodrich,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.    2d  rate. 
"      No.  50.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(Sold  X.) 

"      No.  51.  —  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 
"       No.  52.  —  The  heirs  of  Col.  Eph.  Williams,  239  acres,  2  rods,  no  perch. 

1st  rate. 

"      No.  53.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(Sold.) 
"      No.  54.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.    3d  rate. 

(I.  M.  W.  — O.  W.  X.) 

"       No.  55.  —  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  56.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

(I.  M.  W.  — O.  W.  x.) 


128  HISTORY  OP  TITTSFIELD. 

Square  No.  57.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

[N.  B.  —  Across  lots  56  and  57  is  the  following  :  "  Col.  Wen- 
dell's meadow  included  in  these  two  lots,  chiefly  valuable."] 
"      No.  58.  —  Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 
"       No.  59.  —  Gol.  Jacob  Wendell,  230  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(I.  M.  W.  — O.  W.  x.) 

"      No.  60.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.     2d  rate. 

( J.  w.  —  S.  H.) 

"      No.  61.  —  Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.     3d  rate. 
"      No.  62.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch      Some  meadow 

in  this  lot.     1st  rate.  (J.  W.) 

"      No.  63.  —  Mr.  Israel  Stoddard,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.     It  is  meadow 

included.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  64.  —  1  st  rate.    A.  —  Mr.  Charles  Goodrich,  248  acres,  2  rods,  32  perch. 

B.  —  Lieut.  Graves,  49  acres,  1  rod,  1 1  perch. 

"      No.  65. — Mr.  Israel  Stoddard,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  66.  —  Mrs.  Prudence  Stoddard,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.    3d  rate. 
"      No.  67.  —  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  311  acres,  2  rods,  no  perch.     2d  rate. 
"      No.  68.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  298  acres,  3  rods,  8  perch.     1st  rate. 
"      No.  69.  —  Col.  Jacob  Wendell,  272  acres,  1  rod,  24  perch.     2d  rate. 

(I.  M.  W.  O.  x.  —  Sold  part.) 
"      No.  70.  —  Mr.  Sol.  Stoddard,  287  acres,  3  tods,  24  perch.     1st  rate. 

The  mode  of  division  adopted,  which  was  much  more  likely  to 
secure  an  equitable  result  than  that  followed  in  1752,  was  this : 
Nathaniel  Dwight,  the  professional  surveyor  to  the  commission, 
first  divided  the  land  into  "  squares,"  generally  of  from  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  to  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  acres  in  extent, 
although  some,  either  from  the  encroachments  of  the  lakes,  or  as 
make-weights,  were  much  smaller.  The  squares  were  then  classi- 
fied in  regard  to  their  arable  qualities,  as  first,  second,  and  third 
rate.  The  three  sixty-third  parts  reserved  in  the  patent  of  the 
township  for  the  first  settled  minister,  and  for  the  perpetual  support 
of  the  schools  and  of  the  ministry,  were  then  set  off";  and  the  com- 
missioners proceeded  to  apportion  the  remaining  lands  to  the 
several  proprietors,  square  by  square,  in  proportion  to  their  in- 
terests. Either  by  previous  agreement,  or  by  courtesy,  the  spots 
upon  which  some  of  the  proprietors  had  made  improvements  were 
included  in  their  allotments ;  and  no  dissatisfaction  appears  to  have 
arisen  with  the  report  of  the  commissioners. 

Among  the  more  noticeable  allotments,  Col.  Wendell  received 
the  squares  which  contained  the  valuable  Canoe  Meadows,  and  the 
fine  knoll  upon  which  his  grandson,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  built 
his  villa.  Col.  Williams  got  one  hundred  thirty-two  acres  on  the 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


129 


south,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  upon  the  west  shores  of 
Poontoosuck  Lake ;  of  which  he  boasted  a  few  years  later,  as  the 
finest  pieces  of  pine-land  in  all  this  region,  and  "  certain  always 
to  supply  New  Framinghara  (Lanesborough),  as  that  place  was 
entirely  destitute  of  this  tree."  The  beautiful  rural  cemetery  of 
Pittsfield  occupies  the  larger  portion  of  two  semi-squares,  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  each,  which  fell  to  the  minister  and 
the  "  ministry ; "  the  former  getting  the  oblong  upon  Wahconah 
Street,  the  latter  that  upon  Onota. 

The  Commons  lands,  now  no  longer  Commons,  were  thus 
opened  for  settlement;  and  population  soon  began  to  extend  to 
them. 

9 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PITTSFIELD   INCORPORATED. 
[1761-1774.] 

Towns  receive  Names  from  the  Governor.  —  Berkshire  County  erected.  —  First 
Pittsfield  Town-Meeting.  —  Town-Officers.  —  Highways  and  Schools.  —  Pau- 
perism. —  Slavery.  —  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors.  —  Cattle  restrained. — Wolves. 
—  Anecdote  of  Mrs.  Janes.  —  Grist-Mills,  Saw-Mills,  Fulling-Mills,  and 
Malt-House.  —  Growth  of  the  Settlement.  —  Col.  Williams's  House  and  Gar- 
den.—  Other  Dwellings.  —  Early  Settlers'  Names.  —  Condition  and  Prospects 
of  the  Town.  —  Taxation  of  Non-resident  Proprietors. 

MANY  evils  arose  from  the  peculiar  system  adopted  in  the 
settlement  of  Poontoosuck ;  and  among  others,  less  easy 
of  remedy,  was  the  limitation  of  corporate  powers  and  duties,  under 
the  plantation,  to  the  proprietors  of  the  sixty  settling-lots.  In 
reference  to  the  difficulties  springing  from  this  cause,  it  was  repre- 
sented to  the  General  Court,  in  1761,  that  incorporation  as  a  town 
would  greatly  contribute  to  the  growth  of  the  place,  and  remedy 
many  inconveniences  to  which  the  inhabitants  and  proprietors 
might  otherwise  be  subjected. 

The  movement  was  made  by  Col.  "Williams,  who  was  then  at 
Boston  urging  the  erection  of  the  county  of  Berkshire ;  and  an 
act  of  incorporation  was  introduced  in  the  Council,  read  three 
times,  passed  to  be  engrossed,  sent  to  the  House  and  there  read 
once,  all  upon  the  10th  of  April.  It  passed  the  House  on  the  13th, 
was  enacted  on  the  16th,  and  approved  by  the  governor  (Sir 
Francis  Bernard)  on  the  26th.  James  Otis,  as  speaker,  attested 
the  passage  of  the  bill  by  the  House. 

The  act  of  incorporation  conferred  the  usual  powers,  but  with 
the  provision,  that  "no  inhabitant  or  proprietor,  excepting  the 

130 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  131 

original  sixty  settling-proprietors,  or  those  holding  under  them, 
should  be  obliged  to  pay  any  part  of  the  charges  towards  building 
a  meeting-house,  settling  the  first  minister,  or  the  other  charges 
which  the  said  original  settling-proprietors  were  obliged  to  per- 
form, either  according  to  the  tenor  of  their  grant,  or  by  any  agree- 
ment made  by  or  among  themselves." 

A  further  provision  was  made  by  amendment,  adopted  after  the 
passage  of  the  bill  by  the  Council,  excluding  the  new  town  from 
representation  until  the  year  1763. 

The  privilege  of  conferring  names  upon  towns  at  their  incorpo- 
ration belonged,  under  the  Provincial  regime,  to  the  royal  gover- 
nor, who  generally,  in  selecting  them,  consulted  the  wishes  of  the 
parties  interested.  In  cases,  however,  where  these  differed  among 
themselves,  the  contestants  most  in  favor  at  Province  House  pre- 
vailed ;  and,  where  no  satisfactory  name  was  proposed  by  any 
party,  his  Excellency  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  indulge 
his  own  taste,  —  and  that  of  Sir  Francis  Bernard  was  not  to  be 
questioned,  —  or  to  compliment  some  personal  friend  or  patron:  a 
fact  which  may  aid  some  towns  in  finding  a  godfather  responsible 
for  their  unaccountable  names.1 

Three  plantations  were  made  towns  on  the  same  day  with 
Poontoosuck ;  and  in  each  instance  a  space,  which  has  never  been 
filled,  was  left  blank  in  the  records  of  the  Court,  for  the  name  of 
the  place.  In  the  copy,  among  the  rolls  of  the  commonwealth,  of 
the  act  regarding  Poontoosuck,  the  word  "  Pittsfield "  is  inserted 
in  a  different  handwriting,  and  with  different  ink,  from  those 


1  The  following  letter  —  Hon.  Thomas  Colt's  Collection,  pp.  335  —  affords  a 
curious  illustration  of  this  statement,  in  connection  with  the  incorporation  of  the 
Plantation  of  Queensborough,  in  1771.  Queensborough  was  made  the  town  of 
West  Stockbridge  in  1774. 

SIR, —  We  have  now  a  petition  in  the  General  Court  to  have  the  west  part  of  Stockbridge 
set  off,  and  made  into  a  district ;  which  I  suppose  will  meet  with  no  opposition.  We  now 
call  the  place  Queensborough :  should  be  glad  to  have  it  retain  that  name  if  it  is  agreeable 
to  his  Excellency.  I  forgot  to  desire  'Squire  Woodbridge  to  mention  it  to  the  governor; 
and,  had  I  have  thought  of  it,  I  suppose  he  would  have  been  too  negligent  to  have  done 
any  thing  about  it.  I  would  therefore  now  beg  the  favor  of  you,  sir,  to  request  of  his 
Excellency  to  call  the  place  Queensborough  if  it  is  agreeable  to  him. 
I  am,  with  respect,  sir,  your  very  humble  servant, 

ELIJAH  WILLIAMS. 

QUEENSBOROUGH,  June  4, 1771. 

The  letter  was  addressed  to  Col.  William  Williams,  then  Representative  from 
Pittsfield,  and  high  in  Gov.  Hutchinson's  favor. 


132  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

used  in  the  body  of  the  document.  By  whom,  or  upon  whose 
suggestion,  the  name  was  selected  does  not  appear.  In  the  act> 
another  blank  left  for  the  name  of  the  magistrate  authorized  to  call 
the  first  town-meeting  was  filled  by  that  of  Col.  Williams ;  and  in 
June,  writing  to  a  friend  in  London,  that  gentleman  remarked, 
"  The  name  of  Pitt  is  most  agreeable  to  me ;  and,  as  the  plantation 
in  which  I  dwell  grew  numerous,  the  government,  last  spring,  saw 
cause  to  incorporate  it  into  a  town,  which  Gov.  Bernard  was 
pleased  to  call  Pittsfield."  Doubtless  the  writer  had  some  voice 
in  securing  for  his  home  the  name  which  was  so  agreeable  to  him. 

But  William  Pitt,  by  his  vigorous  conduct  of  the  war  against 
France,  had  made  himself  the  idol  of  all  parties  in  New  England; 
and,  however  modern  sentiment  may  regret  aboriginal  "  Poontoo- 
suck,"  it  was  not  without  reason  that  the  men  of  1761  thought  it 
seemly  to  commemorate  the  British  minister  who  had  in  troublous 
time  manifested  the  most  earnest  solicitude  for  the  defence  of  the 
western  frontier  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  name  of  the  first  town 
incorporated  in  that  section  after  the  triumphant  close  of  the  war: 
and  it  was  incidentally  fortunate  that  this  town  also  occupied  the 
site  of  one  of  the  most  exposed  military  outposts,  and  was  one  of 
those  whose  safety  most  closely  depended  upon  the  conquest  of 
Canada.  And  thus,  while  happily  the  name  of  Pitt  grew  more  and 
more  endeared  to  the  whole  American  people,  until  the  last  great 
statesman  who  bore  it  ceased  to  live,  it  had,  when  applied  to 
Pittsfield,  an  earlier  and  a  local  fitness  which  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1760,  the  proprietors  of  New  Framing- 
ham  (Lanesborough),  fifty-one  being  present,  voted,  "  That,  as  the 
westerly  towns  of  the  county  of  Hampshire  are  about  petitioning 
the  Great  and  General  Court  that  said  county  may  be  divided  .  .  . 
by  the  west  line  of  the  town  of  Blandford,  .  .  .  we  do  heartily  join 
with  them  in  their  request,  and  now  appoint  Wm.  Williams,  Esq., 
our  agent  to  solicit  the  same  ...  at  their  next  session,  or  at  any 
time  hereafter,  when  the  other  towns,  by  their  agents,  shall  move 
in  the  matter." l 

There  is  no  record  of  the  action  which  Poontoosuck  undoubtedly 
took,  similar  to  that  of  her  sister  plantations ;  but,  on  the  same  13th 
of  April  on  which  the  act  to  incorporate  the  town  of  Pittsfield 

1  T.  C.  C.,  p.  196. 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  133 

passed  in  concurrence  to  be  engrossed,  Col.  Williams  —  having,  as 
the  agent  of  several  towns,  petitioned  for  the  division  of  Hampshire 
county  —  had  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  that  purpose;  and,  on  the 
same  day  that  the  act  to  incorporate  the  town  passed  to  enact- 
ment, that  to  erect  the  county  of  Berkshire  passed  to  be  engrossed.1 

The  name  "  Berkshire "  was  given  to  the  new  county  by  Gov. 
Bernai-d,  and  was  probably  suggested  by  his  personal  connections 
with  the  shire  of  that  name  in  England. 

The  towns  of  Sheffield,  Stockbridge,  Egremont,  and  New 
Mavlborough,  the  plantations  of  Poontoosuck,  New  Fraruingham, 
and  West  Hoosuck,  and  the  Districts  Nos.  1,  3,  and  4,  were 
enumerated  in  the  act ;  while  the  rest  of  the  territory  of  the  county 
was  lumped  as  "  all  lands  within  "  certain  described  limits.  There 
were,  however,  settlements,  and  some  of  them  considerably 
advanced,  in  all  the  present  towns  of  Southern  Berkshire,  except 
West  Stockbridge. 

Sheffield  was  declared  to  be,  "  for  the  present,  the  shire  or  county 
town  ; "  and  it  was  enacted  that  courts  of  the  General  Sessions  of 
the  Peace  and  inferior  courts  of  Common  Pleas,  should  be  held  in 
the  North  Parish  of  that  town,  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  April  and 
the  first  Tuesday  of  September  ;  and  at  Poontoosuck  on  the  first 
Tuesday  of  December  and  the  first  Tuesday  of  March. 

A  court-house  and  jail  were  built  at  Sheffield,  North  Parish, 
which  was,  in  June,  1761,  incorporated  as  the  town  of  Great 
Barrington.  The  courts  at  Pittsfield  were  held  in  a  large  room 
set  apart  for  that  purpose  in  Fort  Anson,  which  was  dismantled, 
and,  a  little  after  that  time,  became  the  property  and  residence  of 
Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  one  of  the  more  wealthy  settlers.  The  terms 
of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature  (corresponding  to  the. present 
Supreme  Judicial  Court)  were  directed  to  be  held  at  Northampton, 
in  connection  with  those  for  Hampshire ;  and  they  were  so  held 
until  1783. 

In  1770,  the  General  Court  having  submitted  certain  proposed 
changes  in  the  times  of  holding  the  Berkshire  courts  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  towns  of  the  county,  Pittsfield  voted  that  the  ' 
term  held  at  Great  Barrington  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  September  had 
been  found  inconvenient,  as  that  was  the  season  of  the  year  when 
every  experienced  farmer  chose  to  sow  his  wheat,  and  because  it 

1  Kec.  Gen.  Court,  Lib.  copy,  vol.  xxiii. 


134  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

gave  the  clerk  so  little  time  that  he  was  perplexed  to  make  out  his 
copies  for  the  Superior  Court ;  and  recommended  a  change  to  the 
third  Tuesday  in  August,  "  as  that  was  a  time  when  all  had  done 
reaping,  and  none  began  to  sow."  It  was  further  recommended 
that  the  courts  held  at  Pittsfield  should,  on  account  of  the  travel- 
ling, sit  on  the  third  instead  of  the  last  Tuesday  of  February. 
And,  generally,  the  town  advised  that  courts  should  be  held  at 
Great  Barrington  on  the  last  Tuesdays  of  May  and  August,  and  at 
Pittsfield  on  the  third  Tuesdays  of  November  and  February.  The 
proposition  as  to  the  Great-Barrington  September  term  was  adopted 
by  the  Legislature ;  the  others  rejected.  But  it  will  be  observed, 
by  the  wording  of  the  Pittsfield  vote,  that  changes  had  already 
taken  place  between  the  erection  of  the  county  in  1761  and  the 
meeting  of  1770.  The  agricultural  reader  will  note  the  promi- 
nence given  to  the  farming-interest ;  and  particularly  to  the  culture 
of  wheat,  which  has  since  become  an  insignificant  item  in  the  prod- 
uce of  town  and  county. 

Pittsfield  having  been  made  a  town,  and  established  as  one  of  the 
two  seats  of  the  county  courts,  entered  upon  a  new  era  of  her 
history ;  of  which  the  first  few  years  were  marked  by  organization 
and  formation,  when  the  affairs  of  the  place  —  social,  personal, 
municipal,  and  religious — assumed  the  characteristics  which  they 
bore  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolution,  and  some  of  which  out- 
lasted that  convulsion. 

The  first  town-meeting  was  held  in  the  forenoon  of  the  llth  of 
May,  1761,  at  the  house  of  Deacon  Stephen  Crofoot,  which  stood 
near  the  western  end  of  Elm  Street.  The  business  centre  was 
already,  it  seems,  creeping  westward.  The  only  business  transacted 
was  the  election  of  the  following  officers :  Moderator,  David 
Bush ;  Clerk,  Wm.  Williams ;  Treasurer,  David  Bush ;  Selectmen 
and  Assessors,  David  Bush,  William  Williams,  and  Josiah  Wright ; 
Constable,  Jacob  Ensign;  Highway-Surveyors,  Gideon  Goodrich, 
David  Bush,  and  Eli  Root ;  Fence-viewers,  Nath'l  Fail-field,  Wm. 
Francis ;  Sealer  of  Leather  and  of  Weights  and  Measures,  Simeon 
Crofoot;  Wardens,  Solomon  Deming  and  David  Noble;  Deer- 
reeves,  John  Remington  and  Reuben  Gunn. 

The  Deer-reeves  were  elected  annually  to  enforce  the  law  which 
forbade  the  killing  of  deer  in  certain  seasons.1 

1  By  the  law  of  1698,  between  Jan.  1  and  Aug.  1.  Afterwards  the  dates  were 
slightly  changed.  In  1763,  prohibition  began  on  the  21st  December. —  Hist. 
Hadley,  p.  356. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  135 

The  meeting  was  held  under  a  precept  from  the  magistrate 
named  in  the  act,  directed  to  "  Charles'Goodrich,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal inhabitants,  &c,"  requiring  him  to  "notify  and  warn  the  free- 
holders and  other  inhabitants  qualified  to  vote  in  town-meeting." 
Various  modes  were  adopted  in  warning  subsequent  meetings,  as 
the  town,  from  time  to  time,  gave  directions.  The  custom  of  the 
Province  —  by  posting  up  copies  of  the  warrant  at  certain  pre- 
scribed places  —  was  generally  followed ;  but  sometimes,  wrhen  the 
necessity  of  calling  meetings  in  sudden  and  important  emergencies 
was  anticipated,  the  constables  were  required  to  serve  personal 
notice  upon  every  voter.  To  facilitate  the  performance  of  this 
duty,  and  also  the  collection  of  taxes,  the  inhabitants  were  classed 
as  belonging  to  either  the  East  or  West  Part;  and  separate  consta- 
bles and  collectors  were  assigned  to  the  two  sections. 

The  right  of  voting  in  town-meeting  belonged  only  to  such  as 
"  had  a  ratable  estate  in  the  town,  besides  the  poll,  amounting  to 
the  value  of  twenty  pounds,  by  the  following  method  of  estima- 
tion, viz. :  real  estate  to  be  set  at  so  much  only  as  the  rents  or 
income  thereof  for  the  space  of  six  years  would  amount  to,  were 
it  let  at  a  reasonable  rate ;  and  personal  estate  and  faculty  to  be 
estimated  according  to  the  rule  of  valuation  prescribed  in  the  acts 
from  time  to  time  made  for  assessing  and  apportioning  public 
taxes."' 

A  practice  prevailed,  for  which  no  good  reason  appears,  of 
bestowing  a  plurality  of  offices  upon  a  single  individual  when  there 
was  no  lack  of  others,  equally  qualified,  from  whom  to  choose. 

As  in  plantation,  so  in  town  meetings,  highways  and  bridges 
occupied  a  large  share  of  attention :  but  it  would  be  impossible, 
without  the  aid  of  a  practical  engineer,  to  follow  in  detail  the 
changes  which  were  made ;  and,  even  with  such  aid,  the  labor  would 
be  difficult  and  the  result  voluminous.  The  roads  reserved  in  the 
division  of  the  township  were  laid  out  at  uniform  distances  and  at 
right  angles;  so  that  the  changes  which  were  required  by  the  fre- 
quent streams,  lakes,  swamps,  and  hills,  which  the  right  lines 
encountered,  were  innumerable,  —  the  discussion  of  them  intermin- 
able. 

The  first  appropriation  for  schools  was  of  £22.  8s.,  in  March,  1762, 
to  be  equally  divided  between  the  East  and  West  Parts.  Sixteen 

1  Act  of  1743. 


136  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

pounds  only  were  voted  in  1764 ;  and  a  proposition  to  build  two 
school-houses,  once  passed,*was  reconsidered  and  defeated.  But, 
the  next  year,  the  town  was  divided  into  the  east,  west,  and  centre 
districts,  and  a  school-house  voted  for  each.  William  Brattle 
engaged  to  build  the  eastern;  James  Easton,  the  middle;  Caleb 
Wadhams  and  David  Noble,  the  western. 

These  engagements  were  not  kept ;  and,  in  1766,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  select  sites  for  three  school-houses,  to  be  built  by 
James  Easton  for  £36 ;  one  to  be  twenty-two  feet  square,  the  others 
seventeen,  and  all  "to  be  well  shingled,  doors  made  and  hung, 
with  floors  and  good  chimneys,  and  glazed  with  four  windows,  and 
twelve  squares  in  each  window."  The  largest  stood  north  of  the 
eastern  end  of  the  park,  in  what  is  now  the  travelled  street  of 
Park  Place.  Deacon  Easton  was  finally  allowed  £25.  8s.  7d.  for 
building  it. 

In  1764,  the  appropriation  for  schooling  rose  to  £30,  to  be 
divided  among  the  districts,  as  nearly  as  might  be,  in  proportion  to 
population.  In  1771,  two  new  districts  having  been  created,  £60 
were  divided,  — £15  each  to  the  east,  centre,  and  middle  districts ; 
£7.  10s.  apiece  to  the  others.  In  1773,  a  new  interest  in  schools 
was  inspired  by  the  exertions  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  who  offered  to 
give  six  pounds  yearly,  for  five  years,  towards  their  support.  The 
town  accepted  the  offer  with  thanks,  increased  its  appropriation 
for  schooling  to  £100,  and  ordered  new  houses  to  be  built  in  the 
north-east  and  south-west  districts;  so  that,  before  the  Revolution, 
Pittsfield  had  five  school-houses. 

The  selectmen  —  acting  as  the  superintending  school-committee 
—  had  in  hand  £100  from  the  appropriation,  £6  from  Mr.  Allen, 
and  £6  from  the  rent  of  the  school-lot,  — £112  :  of  which  each  of 
the  larger  schools  received  £28 ;  each  of  the  smaller,  £14. 

The  districts  managed  their  affairs  independently :  and,  on  the 
settlement  of  their  annual  accounts,  some  were  usually  found  to 
have  overdrawn  their  allowance,  while  some  left  a  "  balance "  in 
the  town  treasury;  both,  of  course,  to  be  adjusted  in  the  coming 
year. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  instruction  afforded,  we  have  no 
means  of  judging,  except  from  the  facts  here  stated.  There  was, 
however,  a  good  omen  in  the  liberal  interest  taken  in  the  schools 
by  the  clergyman  of  the  place,  engrossed  as  he  was  in  the  troubled 
politics  of  the  times. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  137 

We  have  the  names  of  only  three  of  the  teachers,  —  Mr.  John 
Strong ;  Mrs.  Phineas  Parker,  who  taught  in  the  west  district ;  and 
a  son  of  Col.  Partridge,  probably  the  same  who  afterwards  set- 
tled on  the  lands,  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  town,  which  his 
descendants  still  cultivate.1 

Young  as  the  town  was,  helpless  poverty  and  vagabond  pauper- 
ism soon  made  their  way  to  it.  There  were  frequent  votes  of 
money  for  the  relief  of  the  former  class ;  and  aid  was  also  other- 
wise extended  to  needy  persons,  as  for  instance,  by  permission 
granted  to  a  widow  for  building  a  house  in  the  highway.  Ten 
pounds  were  appropriated,  in  1764,  for  a  workhouse.  Itinerant 
pauperism  was  prevalent  to  a  degree  which  betrayed  the  imperfec- 
tion of  the  laws  designed  for  its  prevention.  But  the  town 
instructed  its  selectmen  to  enforce  them  by  "  warning  out  in 
general  all  persons  who  shall  hereafter  come  into  town  ;"  or,  as  the 
warrant  expressed  it,  "  all,  without  discrimination,  not  possessed  of 
a  freehold."  Of  course  this  instruction  is  to  be  understood  with 
more  limitation  than  can  be  found  in  the  language,  literally  inter- 
preted ;  but,  at  the  best,  it  had  a  severity  of  meaning,  upon  which 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  remark  hereafter. 

Chattel  slavery  existed  under  the  Province  laws  ;  and  not  only 
was  property  in  human  beings  recognized  by  that  code,  but  manu- 
mission was  trammelled  by  the  requirement  of  a  bond  from  the 
master  that  the  freedman  should  never  become  a  public  charge 
"by  reason  of  sickness,  lameness,  or  any  other  incapacity."2 

Many  of  the  early  citizens  of  Pittsfield  held  slaves.  Col. 
Williams  owned  several.  It  appears  from  bills  of  sale  still  extant,8 
that,  in  1761,  he  purchased,  for  fifty  pounds,  "  a  negro  girl  named 
Pendar,"  whom  he  sold  a  few  years  later  for  seventy-five,  —  a  very 
pretty  speculation  in  human  muscles.  Pendar  afterwards  married 
Simon  Bow,  and  joined  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  1795, 
under  the  "  half-way  covenant."  As  late  as  the  Revolution,  adver- 

1  HATFIELD,  March  21,  1768. 

Dear  Brother,  —  I  hear  my  son  lives  with  you,  taking  care  of  a  little  school. 
I  desire  your  fatherly  care  of  him,  and  advice  to  him.  He  is  now  in  the  forming 
age  for  future  usefulness.  I  know  not  that  he  is  addicted  to  any  vice ;  but  you  are 
sensible  how  our  hearts  are  concerned  for  the  good  of  our  offspring.  —  Col.  Par- 
tridge to  Col.  Williams,  March,  1768,  T.  C.  C.,  p.  226. 

2  Province  Laws,  ed.  1815,  p.  745. 

3  T.  C.  C.  Lane,  col.,  and  one  in  possession  of  Hon.  H.  Chickering. 


138  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

tisements  of  runaway  slaves  were  inserted  in  "The  Hartford 
Courant,"  by  Pittsfield  masters.  Slavery  in  Berkshire  differed  in 
no  essential  particular  from  the  same  institution,  when  of  a  house- 
hold character,  in  other  sections.  The  incident  which  led  to  the 
judicial  recognition  of  its  abolition  by  the  Bill  of  Rights  was  an 
act  of  gross  —  although,  perhaps,  suddenly-provoked  —  cruelty, 
perpetrated  in  the  kitchen  of  a  prominent  citizen  of  Berkshire 
upon  the  slave-widow  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier  killed  in  the 
service. 

Rev.  Thomas  Allen  wrote  in  1810,  "  Perhaps  the  whole  of  sixty 
roll,  original  settlers,  did  not  contain  a  single  vicious'  person."1 
These,  however,  did  not  comprise  the  whole  of  even  the  permanent 
population  of  the  place :  while  from  thirty  to  forty  transient  agricul- 
tural laborers  were  annually  hired ; 2  and  among  this  class,  and  the 
tramps  who  were  largely  recruited  from  it,  an  amount  of  vice 
existed,  which,  at  the  present  day,  would  seem  alarming  in  a 
country  town  of  no  greater  population  than  Pittsfield  then  had.8 
Crimes  of  incontinence  crowded  the  records  of  the  Quarter  Ses- 
sions of  the  Peace ;  and,  when  committed  by  those  of  the  lower 
class,  were  treated  as  venial  offences,  incident,  perhaps,  to  their 
condition  in  life.  The  first  indictment  tried  in  the  county  was  for 
fornication,  which  the  offender  confessed,  and  expiated  by  a  fine  of 
thirteen  shillings.  In  1762,  Sarah  Pratt,  a  married  woman,  con- 
victed of  adultery,  was  fined  fifteen  shillings  and  costs  of  court. 
A  hundred  years  before,  the  penalty  was  death.  Misdemeanors, 
with  which  the  magistrate  now  rarely  meddles,  then  often  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  the  criminal  courts.  John  Williams,  charged 
in  1764  with  "  prophaning  the  name  of  God,"  was  returned  non 
est  inventus.  The  probable  penalty  of  his  blasphemy  was  severe 
enough  to  scare  John  into  ignominious  flight.  Another  John  — 
by  surname  Pell  —  travelled  upon  the  Lord's  day,  and  was  mulcted 


1  Hist.  Sketch,  p.  12. 

2  "  Every  spring  we  hire  in  this  town  between  thirty  and  forty  laborers,  gener- 
ally for  the  term  of  six  months ;  and,  as  the  late  law  obliges  us  to  take  our  lists  on 
the  1st  of  September,  it  enables  us  to  recover  the  small  pittance  their  polls  are  set 
at,  when,  in  a  month  or  two  later,  they  carry  away  from  us  between  £300  and  £400. 
. —  Town- Committee's  letter,  May,  1767,  Lane.  Coll. 

8  What  is  said  of  the  state  of  morals  must  not  be  understood  as  peculiar  to  Pitts- 
field,  whose  record  in  the  Quarter  Sessions  was  no  worse,  at  least,  than  that  of 
other  towns. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  139 

therefor  in  the  sum  of  ten  shillings.  A  party  of  young  men, 
belonging  to  respectable  families,  engaged  one  night  at  a  tavern  in 
"  the  unlawful  game  of  cards,"  escaped  out  of  the  window  on  the 
approach  of  the  officers,  but  were  indicted  and  fined  for  their 
offence  "  and  evil  example."  And  so  in  numerous  instances  of  a 
similar  character. 

As  a  matter  of  economy  to  the  county  and  of  convenience  to  all 
parties,  —  including  the  offender,  —  a  large  proportion  of  the  com- 
plaints for  misdemeanor  were  summarily  disposed  of  by  a  single 
magistrate,1  who  either  imposed  a  fine,  or  sentenced  the  prisoner  to 
the  stocks  or  the  whipping-post.  The  punishment  of  minor  of- 
fences by  stripes  or  exposure  in  the  stocks,  which  universally  pre- 
vailed, was  attended  by  many  evils ;  but,  under  the  circumstances 
which  then  existed,  —  and  especially  the  brutalizing  system  of 
prison  discipline,  —  it  was  not  without  some  plausibility  of  reason 
that  magistrates  inflicted  it  in  preference  to  incarceration  in  the 
miserable  jails.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  many  of 
those  worthies  thought  further  in  the  matter  than  to  follow  the 
precedents  which  similar  tribunals  had  kept  unbroken  from  the 
time  when  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary. 

In  1764,  James  Easton  and  Josiah  Wright  were  allowed  by  the 
town  nine  shillings  and  sixpence  for  building  the  stocks  and 
whipping-post  in  Pittsfield  ;  but  whether  these  indispensable  aux- 
iliaries in  the  teaching  of  morals  and  the  administration  of  justice 
were  set  up  on  the  meeting-house  common, — as  was  the  prevailing 
custom  —  or  near  some  of  the  places  where  the  courts  were  com- 
monly held,  is  not  of  record  or  tradition.  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  was  no 
great  friend  to  the  penal  system  then  in  vogue  for  the  repression  of 
vicious  naughtiness ;  and  perhaps  its  ugly  servants  found  a  more 
congenial  location  out  of  sight  of  his  windows. 

Owing,  probably,  to  the  imperfection  of  enclosures,  the   least 


1  The  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  county,  who  together  constituted  the  Court 
of  General  Sessions,  had  jurisdiction  singly  in  complaints  for  misdemeanor,  and  in 
civil  cases  where  the  value  in  dispute  did  not  exceed  forty  shillings.  Four  justices 
were  commissioned  for  Berkshire  in  1 761,  —  Joseph  Dwight  of  Stockbrulge,  William 
Williams  of  Pittsfield,  John  Ashley  of  Sheffield,  and  Timo.  Woodbridge  of  Stock- 
bridge.  Perez  Marsh  of  Dalton  was  added  in  176-;  John  Chad  wick  of  Tyring- 
ham,  and  Daniel  Brown  of  Sandisfield,  in  1764;  Elijah  Dwight  of  Great  Barring- 
ton,  and  Israel  Stoddard  of  Pittsfield,  in  1765 ;  Mark  Hopkins  of  Great  Barrington, 
in  1766  ;  and  David  Ingersol  of  Great  Barrington,  in  1767. 


140  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

i 

possible  liberty  was  allowed  to  wandering  cattle  and  hogs.  That 
the  latter  "should  not  run  at  large,"  was  one  of  the  town  regula- 
tions most  frequently  and  earnestly  re-enacted.  To  restrain  the 
former,  forty  shillings  were  voted  in  1761  for  a  pound  forty  feet 
square,  "  to  be  built  and  kept  by  Zebediah  Stiles,  near  his  house,"  on 
"West  Street.  Other  votes,  from  time  to  time,  directed  the  build- 
ing of  pounds  in  other  places.  But  the  cattle  and  sheep  of  differ- 
ent owners  were  so  herded  together,  or  so  liable  to  become  inter- 
mixed, that  special  means  for  their  identification  were  provided; 
the  inhabitants  being  required  annually  "to  bring  into  the  clerk's 
office  the  artificial  marks  which  they  put  upon  their  creatures,  that 
they  may  be  recorded."  A  volume  of  these  curious  "  earmarks  " 
remains  in  the  clerk's  office,  of  which  representations  are  given. 

Wolves  abounded  to  such  a  degree  that  unprotected  pasturage 
was  resorted  to  at  great  risk ;  and,  indeed,  few  folds  were  safe  from 
their  ravages.1  The  town  offered  bounties  in  some  years  for  wolf- 
scalps. 

It  was  the  custom  among  newly-settled  places  to  encourage  the 
introduction  of  mechanical  arts  by  the  grant  of  special  privileges ; 
and  three  instances  of  the  kind  are  recorded  of  Pittsfield.  In 
1763,  William  Brattle  was  privileged  to  "set  up  lengthwise  in  the 
road  against  his  house,  a  malt-house  eighteen  feet  wide,  and  keep 
it  there  as  long  as  he  made  good  malt."  The  inhabitants  were 
accustomed  to  brew  a  mild  ale,  of  sufficient  strength  to  preserve 
the  brewage  healthful  and  palatable  for  the  week's  time  which  it 
was  intended  to  last ;  and  Willam  Brattle  was  expected  to  furnish 
good  malt  for  it. 

Notwithstanding  Deacon  Crofoot's  ill  success  in  obtaining 
encouragement  from  the  Proprietors,  we  infer  from  a  letter  of  Col. 
Partridge  that,  before  the  Indian  disturbances,  he  built  some  sort 

1  It  is  related  of  Mrs.  Seth  Janes,  whom  some  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  Pitts- 
field  remember  as  a  kind-hearted  and  genial  old  lady,  whose  fine,  erect  form,  clad 
in  a  satin  pelisse,  made  an  impression  upon  their  youthful  imaginations,  as  her 
amiable  and  gentle  manners  did  upon  their  hearts,  —  it  is  related  of  this  ladylike 
old  person  that  once,  when  a  young  wife,  alone  in  her  hone  at  the  West  Part,  she 
heard  the  sheep  rushing  wildly  against  her  cabin-door,  and,  looking  out  in  alarm, 
saw  a  huge,  gaunt,  and  hungry  wolf  in  eager  pursuit ;  whereupon  she  quietly 
took  down  her  husband's  loaded  gun,  and  shot  the  intruder  dead.  —  Hist.  Janes 
Family. 

The  Pittsfield  ladies  at  that  time  were,  many  of  them,  familiar  with  the  use  of 
firearms.  Mrs.  Judith  Fairfield  was  reputed  an  excellent  shot. 


SHEEP    MARKS. 


Eli  Root. 


Benj.  Kcilar. 


J.  Keilar. 


J.  Goodrich. 


James  Easton. 


John  Dickinson. 


Sol.  Allen. 


N.  Robbing. 


Ezok.  Root. 


Wm.  Francis. 
^ -N 


Charles  Goodrich. 


Jno.  Kingsley. 


J.  Ensign. 


Oliver  Root. 


Daniel  Hubbard. 


V 

Josiah  Wright. 


Eph.  Little. 


E.  Tracy. 


D.  Ashley. 


Aaron  Blinn. 


Joshua  Robbins. 


James  Hubbnrd. 


James  Noble. 
Oswald  Williams 


HISTORY  OF  TITTSFIELD.  141 

of  a  grist-mill,  upon  a  dam  which  "he  erected  near  the  site  of  the 
present  Elm-street  bridge.  But  it  was  of  insufficient  capacity; 
and  the  first  plantation  and  town  meetings  after  the  war  were 
agitated  with  propositions  "  to  see  whether  Deacon  Crofoot  will 
come  into  such  measures  that  the  Proprietors  may  be  well  accomo- 
dated  with  good  grinding  and  bolting;  and  if  not,  then  to  let  the 
dam  to  those  that  will."  Finally,  after  a  world  of  tribulation,  the 
Deacon,  under  the  award  of  arbitrators,  obtained  a  lease  of  the 
dam  for  fifteen  years.  But  his  mills  were  never  popular ;  and  after 
his  death,  which  occurred  before  the  expiration  of  his  lease,  his 
heirs  were  relieved  from  their  obligation  to  keep  the  mills  in  repair. 
In  1778,  the  mill-privilege  and  neighboring  land  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Ebenezer  White,  under  a  lease  for  999  years.  In  17G7, 
Jacob  Ensign,  having  previously  agreed  with  Deacon  Crofoot, 
obtained  from  the  town  a  grant  of  the  west  end  of  the  mill-dam 
for  fifteen  years ;  conditioned  that  "  he  should,  within  one  year, 
begin  and  exercise  the  feat  of  a  clothier,  and  attend  to  said  service, 
and  do  the  business  of  a  clothier  at  such  place,  during  said  term ;" 
the  town  reserving  the  right  to  remove  the  dam  farther  down 
the  stream,  if  it  saw  fit,  at  the  expiration  of  Crofoot's  lease  :  in 
which  case  Ensign's  rights  to  be  transferred  to  the  new  location. 
In  1768,  Valentine  Rathbun,  from  Stonington,  Conn.,  built  simi- 
lar works  on  the  outlet  of  the  pond  which  then  lay  between  Rich- 
mond Lake  and  Barkersville.  Fulling-mills  had  for  many  years  a 
place  in  the  business  of  Pittsfield  not  unlike  that  which  the  woollen 
manufactures,  of  which  they  were  the  germ,  now  occupy ;  although 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  they  were  over-shad- 
owed by  the  production  of  iron,  and  still  earlier  by  the  manufacture 
of  lumber.  In  answer  to  the  pressing  demands  of  the  settlement, 
saw-mills  —  often  associated  with  grist-mills  —  began,  soon  after  the 
peace,  to  spring  up  in  all  quarters.  In  1762,  Joseph  Keeler  pur- 
chased two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  Col.  Williams's  great  pine 
tract,  on  the  south  shore  of  Poontoosuck  Lake,  and  extending  forty 
rods  down  the  outlet,  upon  which  he  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill. 
About  the  same  time  a  saw-mill  was  built  at  Coltsville.  About 
1767,  saw  and  grist  mills  were  erected  near  the  present  site  of 
the  Pomeroy  Lower  Factories,  by  Ezra  Strong  and  others.  A  saw- 
mill was  early  built  where  the  Pontoosuc  Factory  stands ;  and,  pre- 
vious to  1776,  another  at  Wahconah,  in  connection  with  a  fulling- 
mill  owned  by  Deacon  Matthew  Barber. 


142  E3STOBY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

While  the  new  town  was  taking  form,  as  we  have  seen  it,  under 
its  municipal  organization,  and  introducing  the  necessities  and  con- 
veniences of  village-life,  its  inhabitants  were  exchanging  the  log- 
huts  of  former  days  for  comfortable  and  comely  dwellings. 

When  the  first  partition  of  the  township  was  annulled,  Charles 
Goodrich  and  Col.  Williams  abandoned  their  intention  of  creating  a 
business-centre  near  Unkamet  Street,  and  transferred  their  interests 
to  Wendell  Square,  with  regard  to  which  they  entered  upon  a 
similar  design  in  connection  with  Elisha  Jones,  Nathaniel  Fairfield, 
and  Eli  Root.  It  was  arranged  that  Fairfield,  Root,  Goodrich,  and 
Jones  should  erect  handsome  frame-houses  on  the  four  corners  of 
their  respective  settling-lots,  which  met  at  the  Square ;  while 
Williams  was  to  build  a  little  farther  to  the  "east,  on  Honasada 
Street. 

But  an  unlooked-for  obstacle  presented  itself  in  the  nature  of 
the  land,  whose  soil  was  so  completely  underlaid  with  ledges 
of  solid  rock,  that  no  wells  could  be  sunk  which  would  afford  any 
but  surface-water.  In  this  dilemma,  Charles  Goodrich  displayed 
his  wonted  energy  and  determination  by  building  the  first  water- 
works of  Pittsfield,  —  an  aqueduct  some  two  miles  long,  extending 
from  his  farm  to  the  hills  at  the  east.  It  was  constructed  of  huge 

O 

logs  divided  into  quarters,  bored,  bevelled  at  the  ends,  and  bound 
together  at  the  connecting  joints  with  heavy  iron  bands.  The 
enterprise  failed,  according  to  one  account,  in  consequence  of  a 
fault  in  construction,  which  caused  the  logs  to  crack.  Another 
tradition  has  it  that  an  unpleasant  person,  through  whose  lands 
the  pipes  passed,  soothed  his  temper  and  proclaimed  his  territorial 
lordship  by  tearing  them  up. 

The  lack  of  water  thus  proving  irremediable,  the  owners  of  the 
Four  Corners  were  .compelled,  in  building  their  new  houses,  to 
withdraw  from  the  companionable  neighborhood  for  which  they 
had  anticipated  so  much  distinction ;  but  it  was  long  before  the 
ambitious  project  was  altogether  abandoned,  although  the  build- 
ing of  the  meeting-house,  the  parsonage,  and  mills  soon  began  to 
attract  the  business  centre,  so  far  as  the  business  of  the  town  was 
then  capable  of  centralization,  towards  its  present  position. 

Col.  Williams  built  on  Honasada  Street, -about  a  mile  east  of 
Wendell,  the  curious  mansion  known  for  many  years  throughout, 
Western  Massachusetts  as  "  The  Long  House,"  —  a  rather  showy 
structure  for  those  days,  being  eighty  feet  in  length,  and  two 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  143 

stories  high,  with  a  gambrel  roof.  A  broad  hall  ran  through  the 
centre  from  front  to  rear ;  on  one  side  of  which  was  "  The  Long 
Room,"  in  which  the  owner  held  his  Justice's,  and  sometimes  his 
Probate  Courts,  and  where,  if  tradition  is  correct,  the  county 
courts  also,  at  one  time,  sat.  On  the  other  side  of  the  hall,  were 
"  two  smaller  rooms,  besides  a  buttery  and  bedroom." 

The  whole  house  was  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  carving, 
panelling,  and  other  ornamental  work ;  and  the  grounds  were  not 
neglected.  The  decorations  were  especially  elaborate  in  the  hall 
and  The  Long  Room,  which  were  entered  from  without  by  twin 
doors  of  twenty-six  panels  each,  through  which  a  negro  slave 
ushered  the  visitor  into  one  apartment  or  the  other,  as  his  visit  was 
one  of  courtesy  or  business.  The  whole  establishment  betokened 
the  owner's  proverbial  magnificence  of  spirit,  and  accorded  with 
his  portly  person,  and  that  dignity  of  demeanor  which  distinguished 
him  at  home ;  however  certain  peculiarities  may  have  tempted  his 
friends  on  the  Connecticut  to  style  him  irreverently,  in  familiar 
letters,  "  Colonel  Billy." 

Col.  Williams's  schedule  of  the  cost  of  his  house  is  preserved  in 
the  Collection  of  Hon.  Thomas  Colt,  p.  271,  and  is  here  given :  — 

COST    OF   MY    HOUSE. 

Glass,  £15;  Nails,  19;  Brads,  2 ;  Paint,  9,12;  Oyl,  6;  Locks,  Hinges, 
etc.,  11.  — £62,12. 

Boards,  £40,10 ;  Clapboards,  10J 6;  Shingles,  10,4  ;  Laths,  3 ;  Slitwork, 
18;  Carpenters'  bill,  26,16,6;  Carpenters'  board,  9;  Joyners'  bill,  64,4; 
Joyners'  board,  21,12.  —  £204,2,6. 

Cellar  digging,  £6,6;  Masons'  bill,  23;  Masons' board,  4,10 ;  Masons' 
attendance,  31,16;  Masons'  attendants'  board,  9  ;  Stone  carriers'  bill,  34  ; 
Stone  carryers'  board,  2,2.  —  £110,14. 

Paper,  £6;  Lime,  18,15 ;  Clay,  1,4;  Loom,  1,10;  Sand,  0,10 ;  Lead, 
2,10;  Hair,  1,2.  — £31,9. 

House,  £408,17,6  ;  West  lot,  430;  East  lot,  305;  Laid  out  in  labor,  140. 
Total,  £1373,17,6. 

/ 

The  reader  may  form  some  idea  of  the  vegetables  to  be  found 
in  a  Pittsfield  gentleman's  garden  of  that  period,  by  the  following 
list  of  seeds  minuted  by  Col.  Williams  for  purchase  in  Boston :  — 

*  "  Cabbages  and  Cauliflowers,  Yorkshire,  Early  Dutch,  Savoy,  and  Com- 
mon ;  Lettuce,  Goss  and  Cabbage ;  Carrots,  Orange,  Yellow  and  Purple ; 
Turnips,  English  and  French;  Onions;  Dedham  Squash;  Cucumber; 


144  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Squashpepper ;  Peas,  Dwarf,  Hotspur,  Marrowfat,  and  round  gopher ; 
Radish;  Double  parsley;  Stow  and  pole  beans;  Sage;  Balm;  Fennil; 
Dill ;  July  flower  (Gilliflower)  ;  Pink  ;  Stertion  (Nasturtium)  ;  Crounations 
(Carnations)  ;  Hyssop  ;  Thyme  ;  Sweet  Marjoram ;  Summer  -  Savory ; 
Parsnip  and  Asparagus." 

A  goodly  catalogue. 

We  are  not  so  precisely  informed  as  to  the  building-up  of  other 
parts  of  the  town;  but  houses  of  some  pretension  were  soon 
scattered  over  the  various  sections.  Israel  Dickinson  built  upon 
the  grounds  now  attached  to  the  summer  residence  of  Hon.  B.  R. 
Curtis;  Israel  Stoddard,  the  youngest  son  of  Col.  John,  selected 
the  eminence  about  a  mile  north  of  that  estate.  James  D.  Colt 
bought  a  thousand  acres  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the  township, 
and  made  his  residence  there.  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  house  was  built 
in  1764,  on  the  site  on  East  Street  now  occupied  by  the  residence 
of  his  grandson  and  namesake.  Woodbridge  Little,  the  first  lawyer 
to  settle  in  the  town,  built  the  cottage,  which  still  stands,  north  of 
the  crossing  of  the  Western  Railroad  by  Beaver  Street. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  with  accuracy  the  years  in  which, 
individuals  became  residents  of  the  town,  except  in  a  few  instan- 
ces ;  but  the  appearance  of  names  upon  the  record  makes  us  sure 
of  dates  previous  to  which  those  who  bore  them  became  citizens, 
and,  to  some  extent,  indicates  their  prominence  in  town  afl^irs. 
Most  of  the  leading  settlers  have  already  been  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  events  in  which  they  took  part ;  but  we  cite  a  few 
other  entries  from  the  town  and  provincial  archives. 

The  persons  who  affixed  the  following  signatures  to  a  petition  to 
the  General  Court,  in  1766,  assumed  to  represent  the  forty  pur- 
chasers from  Livingston ;  but  the  interest  of  some  of  them  had 
been  acquired  by  transfers  of  various  kinds :  William  Wright, 
John  Remington,  Charles  Goodrich,  Josiah  Wright,  Charles 
Miller,  John  Waddams,  Elizur  Deming,  David  Ashley,  William 
Francis,  Oliver  Ashley,  Joshua  Robbins,  James  Lord,  Erastus 
Sackett,  David  Bush,  Daniel  Hubbard,  Amos  Root,  Eli  Root,  Dan 
Cadwell,  Hezekiah  Jones,  Gideon  Gunn,  William  Brattle,  Abner 
Dewey,  Nathaniel  Fairfield,  Zebediah  Stiles. 

The  following  names,  not  previously  mentioned  in  any  other 
connection,  appear  on  the  first  list  of  jurymen,  reported  Aug.* 
18, 1761 :  Lemuel  Phelps,  Wm.  Phelps,  David  Noble,  Jesse 
Sackett,  Thomas  Morgan.  John  Morse  was  a  fence-viewer  in  1762. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  145 

Israel  Stoddard,  Israel  Dickinson,  Phinehas  Belding,  Joseph 
Wright,  and  Joseph  Wright,  jun.,  signed  a  petition  in  1762.  Caleb 
Wadhams  was  deer-reeve  in  1763 ;  James  Easton,  school-com- 
mitteeman  in  1764.1 

The  influx  of  new  citizens  brought  with  it  a  good  deal  of  wealth, 
as  well  as  of  business  capacity  and  enterprise,  which  soon,  in  a 
measure,  relieved  the  depression  bequeathed  from  less  happy  days. 
A  growing  sense  of  the  natural  advantages  of  the  place  contributed, 
also,  not  a  little  to  that  local  pride,  and  confidence  in  the  future  of 
their  home,  which  has  always  characterized  the  most  thoughtful 
and  intelligent  people  of  Pittsfield.  A  notable  and  amusingly 
exaggerated  expression  of  this  sentiment  and  faith  appears  in  a 
letter  from  Col.  Williams  to  his  brothers-in-law,2  in  which  he 
endeavors  to  persuade  them  to  remove  from  Deerfield  to  Pitts- 
field.  We  quote  a  portion  :  — 

PITTSFIELD,  March  28, 1767. 
DEAR  BRETHREN, — 

These  wait  on  you  by  Mrs.  Williams,  with  my  hearty  sympathy  on  the 
poor  state  of  health  I  understand  you  at  present  enjoy.  Languor,  sickness, 
and  excruciating  pain  were  my  portion,  while  I  chose,  or  rather  was  obliged, 
to  tabernacle  in  the  narrows  between  the  west  and  east  mountains  of 
Deerfield. 

Since  my  removal  to  this  place,  I  challenge  any  man  in  the  govern- 
ment, that  has  not  had  half  the  fatigue,  to  compare  with  me  for  health,  or 
freedom  from  pain.  All  my  doctor's  bill  has  been  a  gallipot  or  two  of 
unguent  for  the  itch.  And  never  have  I  but  two  half-days  been  absent  from 
public  worship  for  fourteen  years ;  and  then  'twas  not  because  I  wasn't  well. 
But  what  may  in  a  more  general  way  convince  you  of  the  temperature  and 
goodness  of  our  air  may  be  demonstrated  by  the  records  of  the  probate- 
office,  the  avails  of  which,  in  near  about  six  years,  has  not  amounted  to  ten 
pounds  to  the  judge.  And  another  indisputable  proof  of  the  goodness  of  the 
country  is  the  prolific  behavior  of  the  female  sex  among  us.  Barren  women 
beget  (if  not  bring  forth)  sons.  Women  that  have  left  off  for  5,  6,  7,  and  9 
years,  begin  anew,  and  now  and  then  bring  one,  but  as  many  two,  at  a  birth, 
after  residing  a  suitable  time  among  us.  And,  to  mention  but  one  thing 
(though  I  might  many  more),  no  man  or  woman  of  but  common  understand- 
ing, that  ever  came  and  got  settled  among  us,  wished  themselves  back. 

1  Rev.  Dr.  Field  made  inquiry  into  the  dates  of  the  settlements  of  the  early 
families  at  a  time  when  the  means  of  information  were  more  abundant  than  they 
now  are.     See  Appendix. 

2  H.  C.  C. 

10 


146  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  air  suited  them,  they  felt  frisk  and  alert,  or  a  something  endeared  their 
situation  to  them :  this  with  regard  to  the  women.  The  men  perceived  soon 
the  difference  of  the  soil ;  and,  put  what  you  would  upon  it,  it  would  yield  be- 
yond what  they  were  acquainted  with.  This  prompted  them  to  labor ;  and 
when  they  came  in,  either  by  day  or  night,  their  wives  would  give  them  a 
kind,  hearty  welcome,  so  that  they  chose  to  stay  where  they  were,  —  and 
they  chose  well.  If  your  patience  would  suffer  me,  I  would  fill  this  paper 
with  instances  of  growth  in  estates  in  a  few  years.  And,  as  you  go  along, 
take  this  with  you ;  viz.,  that  the  oldest  town  in  the  county  is  but  a  few 
years  above  thirty. 

And  now  to  come  to  instances,  and  only  of  such  persons  as  you  have 
known:  Capt.  Brewer  came  to  Tyrringham  with  £2,200  Old  Ten.  He 
lived  but  seventeen  years  there,  and  had,  when  he  died,  upwards  of  £19,000 
upon  interest;  and  his  lands,  appraised  at  little  more  than  one-half  their 
value,  swelled  his  estate  to  £50,000.  His  son-in-law  came  into  the  same 
town  years  after,  and  was  not  worth  £5 ;  is  now  judged  to  be  worth  as 
much  as  his  father  was:  I  mean  Capt.  Chadwick.  Col.  Ashley  came  to 
Sheffield  with  less  money  than  your  minister  carried  to  Deerfield  :  he  is  now 
worth  more  than  any  man  in  your  county.  And,  since  I  have  mentioned  a 
minister,  I  will  mention  another ;  viz.,  Mr.  Hubbard  of  Sheffield.1  He  came 
as  poor  as  church  mouse,  to  a  people  poorer  than  himself:  lie  died  the  other 
day ;  has  left  sufficient  to  support  his  widow,  and  settle  his  five  sons  well. 
Come  to  Stockbridge,  and  see  the  advance  that  Col.  Williams,  Mr.  Jo 
Woodbridge,  and  Deacon  Brown  have  made  in  their  estates.  Come  to  this 
town  and  see  Goodrich,  Brattle,  Bush,  Hubbard,  Wright,  Crowfoot,  and 
Ensign,  who,  strictly  speaking,  were  in  debt  when  they  came.  .  .  .  But 
I  suppose  I  have  tired  you.  I  have  confined  myself  to  such  as  I  supposed 
you  knew.  Come  and  see,  and  then  I  will  say  and  convince  into  the  bargain. 

But  delays  are  dangerous :  we  have  had  five  wholesome  families  come  in 
this  winter ;  and  last  week  Coult  of  Hadley  bought,  and  is  coming  directly. 
Uncle  Benjamin  Dickinson  told  me,  not  a  month  ago,  that  it  was  his 
fixed  determination  to  be  here  with  his  brood  before  the  year  was  out  if  he 
liked  the  land.  And  I  can  assure  you  our  land  grows  in  repute  faster  than 
any  around  us. 

Col.  Williams,  in  committee  with  James  Easton  and  "Wood- 
bridge  Little,  pleading  for  a  remission  of  the  Province  tax, 
managed  to  tone  down  a  good  deal  the  prosperity  so  glowingly 
depicted.  The  inhabitants  of  Pittsfield  were  compelled,  owing  to 
their  great  distance  from  Massachusetts  markets,  to  carry  to 


i 


Eev.  Jonathan  Hubbard  of  Sheffield,  the  first  minister  of  Berkshire  County, 
and  grandfather  of  Hon.  Henry  Hubbard,  for  many  years  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Pittsfield. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  147 

smaller,1  which  were  already  glutted,  what  little  surplus  produce 
they  raised :  "  and  moreover, "  say  the  committee,  "  although  our 
lands  in  the  valuation  are  esteemed  to  be  of  considerable  value,  yet 
the  labor  we  are  compelled  to  bestow  upon  them  in  cutting  off  the 
old  [girdled]  trees  blown  down,  picking  up  the  fallen 
limbs,  burning,  etc.,  amounts  to  a  large  tax  on  our  best  farms;" 
and  as  to  uncleared  lands,  "  the  expense  is  prodigious  which  we 
must  be  at  before  they  can  be  rendered  in  any  degree  profitable, 
by  reason  that  there  is  such  a  growth  of  such  sort  of  timber  upon 
them,  that,  unless  we  cut  it  all  off,  —  which  costs  £4  per  acre,  — 
we  can't  improve  them,  at  the  shortest,  under  three  years."2 
Rather  a  graphic  delineation  this  of  the  difficulties  in  early  Pitts- 
field  farming. 

In  the  lights  and  shades  of  these  two  representations,  colored  to 
suit  opposite  purposes,  the  reader  will  form  for  himself  a  concep- 
tion of  the  town  in  the  first  decade  after  its  incorporation,  as  a 
community  struggling  under  many  embarrassments  and  against 
many  impediments,  but  with  a  large  preponderance  of  favoring 
circumstances,  and  towards  an  assured  prosperity. 

A  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  its  people  and  their  affairs 
would  reveal  to  him  a  greater  inequality  of  pecuniary  condition 
than  was  usual  in  newly-settled  places,  and  that  the  wealthiest 
men  were  exempt  from  the  heaviest  burdens  of  taxation. 

The  duties  assumed  by  the  proprietors  of  the  sixty  settling- 
lots,  as  part  of  the  consideration  in  their  purchase,  would  have 
been  cheerfully  performed,  had  the  state  of  the  country  immediately 
permitted  it.  But  as  year  after  year  rolled  on,  and  the  proprietors 
were  compelled  to  hold  their  lands,  so  far  as  they  could  hold  them 
at  all,  by  military  occupation,  foregoing  any  profitable  enjoyment 
of  them,  and  as  the  expenditure  of  £170  which  they  had  made 
previous  to  1762  upon  the  highways  had  much  increased  the  value 
of  the  commons,  they  conceived  that  "  the  great  service  they  had 
been  to  the  gentlemen  proprietors  —  not  to  mention  any  benefit 
they  may  have  been  to  the  Province"  —  entitled  them,  in  equity, 
to  some  mitigation  in  the  severity  of  their  contract ;  although  its 
rigid  enforcement  had  been  carefully  provided  for  in  the  act  incor- 
porating the  town.  And  this  the  more,  since  Livingston's  grant, 

1  Hartford,  Kinderhook,  and  Albany. 
*  Committee's  Letter,  May,  1767. 


148  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

in  his  deed  to  the  agents  of  The  Forty  Pioneers,  of  "  the  right  to 
dig  stone  and  cut  timber  on  any  land  in  the  township  not  within 
fence,"  had  been  repudiated. 

For  these  reasons,  the  sixty  settling-proprietors,  through  a 
committee,1  sought  relief  from  some  of  the  consequences  of  their 
ill-considered  bargain,  at  the  hands  of  the  General  Court ;  applying 
for  an  act  to  subject  the  lands  not  alienated  by  Cols.  Wendell 
and  Stoddard,  and  not  included  in  the  hundred-acre  lots,  to  a  tax 
—  to  be  limited  in  duration  and  amount  by  the  Court  —  for  the 
support  of  preaching,  and  making  highways. 

To  this  application,  Oliver  Partridge  and  Moses  Graves  objected 
that  it  was  an  attempt  to  re-impose  upon  the  original  proprietors 
duties  which  the  petitioners  had,  for  a  valuable  consideration, 
covenanted  to  perform ;  and,  moreover,  that  the  tax  asked  for  was 
"  surprisingly  partial, "  as  the  lands  upon  which  it  was  proposed  to 
assess  it  did  not  include  several  thousand  acres,  some  of  them 
cultivated,  which  had  been  "  alienated  "  by  the  original  propi-ietors 
to  Charles  Goodrich  and  others,  —  the  petition  being  so  framed  as 
not  to  cover  the  commons  lands  of  those  who  were  also  proprietors 
of  settling-lots. 

These  objections  proved  fatal  to  the  petition ;  but  the  contro- 
versy between  the  tax-paying  and  the  exempt  proprietors  long 
continued,  and  was  imbittered  in  1765  by  the  heirs  of  Col.  Stod- 
dard, who  brought  an  action  of  ejectment  against  one  of  the 
settlers,  on  the  ground  of  non-compliance  with  the  tenure  by 
which  he  held  his  home-lot.  This  was  intended  as  a  test-case  by 
which  to  try  the  titles  of  the  whole  sixty :  and  they  again  appealed 
to  the  General  Court,  and  again  recited  their  story  and  its  hard- 
ships; declaring,  in  conclusion,  that  the  man  against  whom  the 
action  was  brought  had  "done  more  than  ten  times  the  duty 
which  was  required  by  the  General  Court  of  any  one  lot ; "  and 
begging  that  the  petitioners,  at  their  own  expense,  might  have  a 
committee  of  the  Court  "  to  view  their  settlements  and  improve- 
ments," and,  "  if  these  were  found  not  to  answer  the  expectations 
of  the  Honorable  Court,  then  that  they  would  be  good  enough  to 
let  them  know  it,  —  otherwise,  to  confirm  them  in  the  quiet  and 
peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  possessions." 

1  Consisting  of  Stephen  Crofoot,  David  Hubbard,  Jesse  Sackett,  David  Bush, 
and  Josiah  Wright. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  149 

The  title  which  the  settlers  had  so  dearly  earned  was  finally 
confirmed  in  them ;  whether  by  the  General  Court  in  compliance 
with  their  reasonable  request,  by  a  judicial  decision,  or  by  agree- 
ment of  the  parties,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  By  whatever  methods 
this  and  other  specific  controversies  between  the  settling-proprie- 
tors and  the  representatives  of  Stoddard  and  Livingston  were 
terminated,  the  feuds  which  they  engendered  did  not  end  with 
them,  but  had  their  influence  afterwards  in  the  division  of  parties 
at  the  Revolution,  when  the  great  majority  of  the  settlers  proved 
ardent  Whigs,  —  their  adversaries  still  more  unanimously  arraying 
themselves  with. the  Tories.  And  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  heirs 
of  Col.  Wendell,  who  are  not  recorded  ever  to  have  pressed  their 
legal  and  perhaps  just  rights  against  the  settlers,  afterwards  sym- 
pathized with  them  in  the  ardor  of  their  patriotism,  and  maintained 
a  place  in  the  good-will  of  the  town,  which  is  retained  by  their 
descendants. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FIRST   MEETING-HOUSE  AND    MINISTER. 
[1760-1768.] 

Massachusetts  Laws  for  the  Support  of  Public  Worship.  —  Their  inharmonious 
Operation  in  Pittsfield.  —  Differences  between  Resident  and  Non-resident  Pro- 
prietors. —  The  Meeting-house  raised.  —  Difficulties  in  finishing  it.  —  First 
Sale  of  Pews.  —  Dignifying  the  Seats.  —  Description  of  the  Meeting-house.  — 
Burial-Ground.  —  First  Attempts  to  settle  a  Minister.  —  Ebenezer  Garnsey.  — 
Enoch  Huntington.  —  Amos  Tomson,  Daniel  Collins,  Thomas  Allen,  called 
and  settled.  —  Church  formed.  —  Sketch  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen. 


obligations  imposed  by  Massachusetts  upon  those  who 
-L  settled  her  townships,  to  provide  out  of  the  lands  which  they 
received  a  decent  and  honorable  establishment  of  public  worship, 
were  prompted,  not  so  much  by  a  desire  to  compel  the  reluctant 
and  therefore  perfunctory  performance  of  sacred  duties,  as  to  repel 
from  her  Israel  those  to  whom  such  duties  were  unwelcome.  It 
was  a  policy  which,  well-suited  to  the  times  of  its  founders,  has 
left  a  rich  legacy  of  happy  results  to  our  own.  The  political  prin- 
ciples and  religious  dogmas  transplanted  from  the  church,  which 
was  the  nursery  of  two  commonwealths,  grew  together,  insepar- 
able until  after  the  red  harvest  of  the  Revolution  ;  and,  till  then 
at  least,  whatever  harmed  the  one  was  hurtful  to  the  other. 

Whatever  evils  attended  the  compulsory  support  of  religious 
worship,  perpetuated  under  circumstances  to  which  it  was  not 
applicable,  it  worked  little  but  good  to  those  upon  whom  its 
requirements  rested  while  it  was  essential  to  the  future  of  Massa- 
chusetts, that  her  Puritanism  should  be  preserved  incontaminate. 
Not  to  dwell  upon  its  direct  and  palpable  influence  in  preventing 
that  deterioration  of  morals  and  manners  incident  to  all  frontier 
life,  the  attention  to  religious  institutions,  which  Massachusetts 

150 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  151 

plantations  were  forbidden  to  postpone,"  was  of  unbounded  benefit 
in  securing  rapidity  and  unity  of  municipal  organization,  in  elevat- 
ing the  tone  of  local  sentiment,  and  by  investing  the  new  abode, 
however  rude  its  cabins,  with  the  sanctity  of  home. 

Nor  was  the  inharmonious  action  iir  building  the  Pittsfield 
meeting-house  the  fruit  of  these  laws.  The  mischief  there  arose, 
not  from  the  obligations  imposed  upon  the  township  by  the  General 
Court,  but  because,  after  the  assumption  of  those  obligations  by 
the  settling-proprietors  solely,  so  long  an  interval  elapsed  before 
they  could  be  fulfilled,  that  events  transpired,  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  covenanting  party,  destroyed  the  equity  of  the  contract. 
And  to  this  view  the  non-resident  proprietors,  at  least  partially, 
assented,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  paper :  *  — 

Whereas  the  proprietors  of  the  sixty  settling-lots  in  the  township  of 
Poontoosook  propose  speedily  to  build  a  meeting-house  and  settle  a  minister ; 
and  whereas  their  present  circumstances  will  not  enable  them  to  build  a  large 
meeting-house,  neither  will  they  have  occasion  for  such  an  one :  but,  inas- 
much as  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  considerable  number  of  others  that  will 
soon  settle  in  said  township,  they  have  been  advised  to  think  of  building  a 
house  of  fifty-five  feet  one  way,  and  forty-five  feet  the  other,  and  at  present 
only  to  cover  the  same,  and  to  finish  the  same  hereafter,  which  may  probably 
accommodate  all  that  may  hereafter  settle  in  said  township ;  which  they  are 
ready  to  comply  with,  and  pay  their  full  proportion  of,  so  far  as  may  be 
judged  reasonable,  provided  the  non-resident  proprietors  will  be  so  good  on 
their  parts  as  to  encourage  the  same  upon  this  proposal.  We,  who  are  ye 
non-resident  proprietors,  upon  condition  a  house  of  ye  aforesaid  dimensions 
be  built,  will  give  towards  the  same,  provided  the  proprietors  will  give  to 
each  of  us  a  pew  in  said  house,  what  we  have  respectively  affixed  to  our 
names,  as  witness  our  hands,  this  3d  of  January,  1760. 

MOSES  GRAVES, 

Half  ye  glass. 

SOLOMON  STODDARD, 

Half  ye  glass. 

These  offers  did  not  satisfy  the  settlers,  who  voted,  Jan.  17,  to 
build  the  house  forty-five  feet  long,  thirty-five  wide,  twenty  post ; 
and  "to  raise  forty-five  shillings  on  each  lot  to  accomplish  the 
work,  half  to  be  paid  this  year,  half  next." 

1  This  agreement,  which  was  found  among  the  Col.  Williams  Papers,  is  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Foote.  A  similar  instrument,  signed  by  Oliver  Partridge 
and  other  non-resident  proprietors,  agreeing  to  furnish  other  material,  was  in  ex- 
istence a  few  years  since,  but  is  unhappily  lost. 


152  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Partridge  and  Graves,  in  their  petition  of  1762,  considered  that 
a  house  of  the  dimensions  given  would  "  scarcely  hold  the  people 
when  sixty  families  should  be  in  town ; "  and  alleged  that  "  one  of 
the  inhabitants,  not  a  proprietor  of  the  settling-lots,  begged  of  the 
settlers  to  allow  him  to  add  twenty  feet  to  the  length,  at  his  own 
charge,  which  they  utterly  refused,  greatly  to  the  damage  of  the 
original  proprietors  and  their  assigns,  upon  whose  lands,  in  various 
parts  of  the  town,  many  were  [1762]  settling;  so  that  it  was  prob- 
able that  the  meeting-house  would  soon  be  useless." 

The  settlers,  however,  voted,  Dec.  8,  "  That  the  committee  be 
allowed  to  build  the  meeting-house  fifty-five  feet  long,  and  forty- 
five  broad,  with  proportionate  post,  provided  the  non-resident  pro- 
prietors will  give  £80,  lawful  money,  towards  enabling  them  to 
build,  cover,  and  close  the  same ;  they,  in  consideration,  to  have 
four  pews." 

This  arrangement  being  declined,  a  proposition  was  introduced, 
May  29,  1761,  for  a  house  probably  intended  to  serve  a  tempo- 
rary purpose,  —  to  be  forty  feet  long,  thirty  broad,  and  fifteen-feet 
post,  and  to  be  covered  with  feather-edged  boards  only.  This 
plan,  also,  was  voted  down;  and,  June  15,  it  was  resolved, 
"  That  four  shillings  be  raised  on  each  lot,  to  pay  for  raising  the 
meeting-house ;  and  every  man  who  comes  early  to  have  three 
shillings  credit,  per  diem,  till  the  house  be  raised,  and  the  com- 
mittee to  take  account  of  each  man's  labor,  —  the  other  shilling  to 
be  paid  for  rum  and  sugar." 

And  so,  with  labor  duly  cheered  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
day,  the  first  Pittsfield  meeting-house  was  raised  in  the  summer 
of  1761 ;  and  covered  and  floored  before  the  first  of  the  next 
March,  when  a  town-meeting  was  held  in  it.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
proprietors,  May  3,  Mr.  Jesse  Sackett  having  greatly  neglected 
to  comply  with  his  agreement  to  "  clear,  close,  and  clean  an  acre 
and  a  half  for  a  meeting-house  spot,"  the  building  was  stated  to  be 
in  great  peril  from  wind  and  fire ;  but  Mr.  Sackett,  promising  to 
fulfil  his  engagement  as  soon  as  possible,  was  allowed  until  the  1st 
of  November  to  do  sp.1 

1  A  reason  appears  in  this  statement  for  the  completeness  with  which  the 
pioneers  were  wont  to  denude  their  farms,  which-  does  not  imply  that  lack  of  taste 
of  which  they  are  often  impeached.  Even  in  burnings  of  less  extent  than  those 
fearful  conflagrations  which  sometimes  swept  over  the  new  country,  the  flames 
might  Readily  be  communicated,  by  means  of  a  few  trees,  to  the  buildings  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD. 


153 


And  probably,  by  the  time  specified,  the  meeting-house  lot  was 
denuded  of  all  its  trees;  and  the  building  was  only  shaded  by  the 
grand  old  elm,  which,  standing  in  the  street  before  it,  had,  with  a 
single  smaller  companion,  been  spared  for  its  majestic  beauty. 

Nothing  further  appears  to  have  been  done  towards  finishing  the 
meeting-house  until  May,  1764,  when  Col.  Williams  obtained  the 
privilege  of  building  a  pew  upon  lot  No.  16  in  the  ground-plan, 
for  the  use  of  himself  and  family,  but  to  be  relinquished  to  the 
town,  if,  upon  the  completion  of  the  house,  it  did  not  fall  to  him  of 
right.  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich  had  lot  No.  1  upon  the  same  terms. 

Other  gentlemen  craved  similar  privileges  ;  and,  in  December,  it 
was  determined  to  finish  the  house  below  and  the  front  seats  of 
the  gallery,  defraying  the  expense  by  the  sale  of  pews.  The  first 


I 

6'/eX6 


16 

6/zXB  I 


WEST 
DOOR 


4 

B&XS& 


5 

8XI5/2 

6 

8X5'/2 

15 


6'/2X5'/3 


14 


EAST 
DOOR 


13 


GALLERY  STAIRS 


9 

6&/B 


10 
6&X8 


FRONT 
DOOR 


II 

6'I?X8 


12 

6'JzX  a 


PLAN  OF  THE  FIRST   riTTSFIELD  MEETING-HOUSE. 


farmer  who  permitted  himself  to  be  seduced  by  their  beauty  to  spare  them.  And 
a  still  further  wisdom  in  thorough  clearing  appears  from  the  necessity  of  laying 
bare  to  the  cleansing  sunlight  as  much  as  possible  of  a  soil  matted  with  a  sponge- 
like  covering  of  decaying  leaves,  dank  with  putrid  moisture,  and  charged  with 
noxious  vapors,  which  even  the  pure  sunlight  could  not  cast  out,  without  first,  for 
a  time,  redoubling  their  malignancy. 


154  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

sale  of  pews  in  a  Pittsfield  meeting-house  accordingly  took  place 
on  Monday,  Feb.  4,  1765,  by  auction,  to  the  highest  bidder.1 
The  result  was  as  follows :  — 

No.  1.  Sold  to  David  Bush  &  Co.          ...'..  £10    5  0 

"    2.  Caleb  Waddams  &  Co 4150 

"    3.  Joseph  Keelar  &  Co 4100 

"    4.  Zebediah  and  Ephraim  Stiles 2  10  0 

"    5.  Amos  Root  &  Co.               400 

"    6.  James  Easton  &  Co 400 

"    7.  Daniel  Hubbard  &  Co 850 

«    8.  Gideon  Goodrich  &  Co 400 

«  10.  Wm.  Williams  &  Co 6100 

"11.  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich  &  Co.   .        .        •        .        .  6  15  0 

"  13.  Wm.  Williams 2  10  0 

"  14.  Eli  Root  &  "Co.       '  - .    '     . 500 

"  15.  Daniel  Hubbard,  jun.,  &  Co 4100 

"  16.  David  Noble  &  Co.         '  ;'•<'.        .        .        .        .  9     00 

Nos.  9  and  12  were  .not  sold ;  and  an  unnumbered  square 
next  to  the  pulpit  was  reserved  for  the  minister's  family.  It 
was  voted  that  William  Williams  should  have  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  (£83  15),  and  the  two  spaces  for  pews  left  unsold ;  he 
finishing  the  house  in  the  usual  manner  within  twelve  months,  and 
allowing  the  market-price  for  lime  and  boards  to  those  who  had 
bought  pews,  should  they  incline  to  furnish  the  same. 

One  would  think  that  the  long-desired  end  might  now  have  been 
anticipated  with  tolerable  certainty;  but  one  of  those  lapses  which 
seem  to  have  been  inevitable  in  the  history  of  the  early  public  works 
of  Pittsfield  intervened,  and  it  was  many  twelvemonths  before  the 
house  was  completed  in  even  an  imperfect  manner.  In  1768, 
Col.  Williams  was  called  upon  by  the  town  to  "finish  the  meet- 
ing-house according  to  contract,"  Deacon  Easton,  as  sub-contract- 
or, having  failed  to  do  so.  Bat,  Nov.  16,  1770,  as  if  in  despair 
of  ever  seeing  any  other  end  of  the  matter,  it  agreed  to  "  accept  the 
house  as  it  stood,  although  not  completed  according  to  contract." 
Besides  the  work  performed  in  accordance  with  Col.  Williams's 
contract,  Caleb  Stanley  and  other  young  men  had  leave,  in  1765, 
on  paying  thirty  shillings  into  the  treasury,  to  build  a  pew  over  the 

1  A  plan  of  the  pews  and  seats,  as  they  were  to  be  made,  was  presented  to  the  town, 
and  transcribed  on  the  record-book,  from  which  the  representation  here  given  is 
copied. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  155 

gallery  stairs ;  and,  in  1770,  the  young  men  generally,  after  several 
refusals,  obtained  a  vote  permitting  them  to  build  four  pews  in  the 
front  gallery,  with  the  proviso  "that  they  should  be  under  the 
direction  of  the  selectmen." 

The  practice  of  seating  the  young  men  in  one  of  the  galleries, 
prevailed  for  many  years ;  and  it  is  related  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  that 
on  one  New-Year's  Sunday,  after  reading  the  usual  parochial 
statistics  of  the  preceding  twelve  months,  and  remarking  upon  the 
meagre  record  of  marriages,  he  glanced  his  eye  along  the  delin- 
quent ranks,  and  shaking  his  head,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  This  will 
never  do,"  he  remarked  quietly,  "  Young  men,  young  men,  you 
are  expected  to  do  your  duty." 

A  custom  known  as  "dignifying"  or  "seating"  the  meeting- 
house existed  at  this  time,  and  long  after,  in  almost  every  New- 
England  town;  which  is  thus  described  in  Caulkins's  excellent 
history  of  Norwich,  Conn. :  "  When  the  meeting-house  was 
finished,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  dignify  the  seats,  and 
establish  the  rules  for  seating  the  people.  Usually  the  square  pew 
nearest  the  pulpit  was  the  first  in  dignity ;  and  next  to  this  came 
the  second  pew,  and  the  first  long  seat  in  front  of  the  pulpit. 
After  this,  the  dignity  gradually  diminished  as  the  pews  receded 
from  the  pulpit.  If  the  house  was  furnished,  as  in  some  instances, 
with  square  pews  on  each  side  of  the  outer  door,  fronting  the  pul- 
pit, these  were  equal  to  the  second  or  third  rank  in  dignity.  The 
front  seat  in  the  gallery,  and  the  two  highest  pews  in  the  side-gal- 
leries, were  also  seats  of  considerable  dignity. 

"  The  rules  for  seating  were  formed  on  an  estimate  of  age,  rank, 
office,  estate-list,  and  aid  furnished  in  building  the  house.  These 
lists  were  occasionally  revised,  and  the  people  reseated  at  intervals 
of  three  or  four  years.  Frequent  disputes,  and  even  long-continued 
feuds,  were  caused  by  this  perplexing  business  of  seating  a  con- 
gregation according  to  rank  and  dignity." 

One  can  well  conceive  that  such  a  result  would  follow.  Indeed, 
the  church-going  customs  and  laws  of  early  times  would  intolera- 
bly gall  the  spirit  of  a  man  of  our  day,  especially  if  his  religious 
-faith  did  not  accord  with  that  of  the  majority.  To  be  taxed  for 
the  building  of  a  temple  not  of  his  own  mode  of  worship,  and  the 
support  of  a  minister  whom  he  believed  the  preacher  of  heresies ; 
to  be  compelled,  on  penalty  of  the  stocks,  to  "  go  to  meeting  "  — 
"  attend  on  the  stated  ordinances  of  the  gospel,"  the  law  phrased 


156  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

it  —  within  certain  intervals,  and  when  there  to  take  the  seat  assigned 
him,  as  an  indication  of  his  social  status,  by  a  committee  for  whom 
his  respect  may  have  been  of  the  slightest,  —  such,  in  Provincial 
times,  was  the  fate  of  the  dissenter,  and,  in  some  of  its  particu- 
lars, of  the  Orthodox  Congregation alist  as  well. 

In  Pittsfield,  the  "  system  of  dignifying  the  house  "  was  disturbed 
without  being  ameliorated  by  the  sale  of  the  pews,  which  left  only 
the  long  seats  to  be  periodically  classified.  The  honors  of  the 
pew-holders  bloomed  perennially.  This  distinction  was  only  an 
additional  source  of  discontent  and  irritation ;  but,  notwithstanding 
many  attempts  to  do  away  with  their  invidious  privileges,  the 
proprietors  held  on  to  their  pews  until  within  a  few  years  of  the 
demolition  of  the  meeting-house  in  1792. 

Seventeen  years  having  passed  away  since  the  first  vote  of  "  The 
Proprietors  of  settling-lots  in  Poontoosuck"  regarding  it,  the 
meeting-house  was  at  last,  in  1770,  after  some  rough  fashion,  fin- 
ished ;  and  we  have  the  data  from  which  to  reconstruct  it,  with 
little  aid  of  the  imagination. 


FIRST  MEETING-HOCSE,  SCHOOL-HOUSE,  AND  PARSONAGE. 

East  street  then  ran  straight  through  to  West ;  and  close  upon  its 
north  side,  immediately  in  front  of  the  present  location  of  the  First 
Congregational .  Church,  stood,  broadside  to  the  street,  the  little 
meeting-house,  which  had  come  of  the  great  travail  of  so  many 
years,  —  a  plain,  angular  building,  "  forty-five  feet  long,  thirty-five 
wide,  and  twenty  feet  post;"  two  stories  high,  with  roof  peaked 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  157 

after  the  ordinary  modern  style;  covered  with  rough,  unpainted 
clapboards,  with  square  windows,  and,  in  the  middle  of  the  south, 
east,  and  west  sides,  doors  of  the  same  Quakerish  pattern  ;  without 
belfry,  portico,  pilaster,  or  bracket ;  with  no  ornamentation  what- 
ever, but  soon  with  a  plentiful  display  of  broken  window-panes,  — 
the  ugly  little  barn-like  structure,  about  to  be  consecrated  by 
words  and  acts  for  freedom  as  bold,  as  pure,  and  as  ardent  as  any 
that  were  ever  spoken  or  done  in  American  history. 

The  visitor  entering  on  the  Sabbath,  by  the  south  door,  con- 
fronted, at  the  north  end  of  the  broad  aisle,  the  plain  but  elevated 
pulpit,  with  its  earnest  preacher.  Below,  upon  a  slightly-raised 
platform,  stood  a  deal-table,  used  alike  for  the  communion  service 
and  as  the  clerk's  desk  at  town-meetings.  Behind  it,  two  chairs, 
high  backed,  and,  as  related  to  the  present  era,  antique,  but  mod- 
ern enough  then,  and  by  no  means  Gothic  or  massive.  The  pews, 
arranged  as  in  the  plan,  and  the  six  "  long  seats"  before  the  pulpit, 
occupied  the  floor  of  the  house.  Galleries  extended  on  the  east 
and  west  ends,  and  along  the  front.  The  pew-holders  and  their 
families  sat  together  as  now ;  but,  in  the  galleries  and  long  seats, 
the  men  and  women  were  separated,  Shaker  fashion.1 

The  majority  of  the  congregation  were  hardy,  well-to-do  farmers 
of  respectable  carriage,  betokening  good  New-England  sense  and 
education,  and  weather-beaten  in  other  fields  as  well  as  those  of 
peaceful  labor.  There  were  some  of  greater  wealth  and  refine- 
ment; and  a  few  of  aristocratic  pretension  (for  aristocratic 
pretension  budded  bravely  under  Provincial  rule)  ;  a  few,  also, 
whose  intellectual  culture  and  ability  are  still  held  in  remembrance. 
Nor  did  the  lower  seats  lack  for  those  less  favored  by  fortune  in 
respect  to  social  position  and  the  possession  of  this  world's  gear : 
while  behind  the  singers,  who  occupied  the  front  seats  in  the  front 
gallery,  were  bestowed  the  Philises,  the  Dinahs,  the  Pendars,  the 
Blossoms,  the  Hartfords,  the  Simons,  and  the  Hazels;  for,  where 
equality  was  denied  to  the  white  race  among  themselves,  no  civil 
rights  bill  could  be  expected  to  accord  it  to  the  blacks. 

Retiring  with  the  congregation,  at  the  close  of  a  service  some- 

1  In  1773,  John  Strong  was,  by  vote  of  the  town,  allowed  to  purchase  for  ci"ht 
pounds  "  the  hind  seat  on  the  woman's  side,"  in  order  to  build  a  pew  where  it 
stood;  and,  three  years  afterwards,  he  received  permission  to  exchange  this  for 
"  half  the  two  hind  seats,"  on  the  same  side,  he  preferring  the  dignity  of  a  square 
pew. 


158  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

what  less  protracted  than  was  customary  in  other  pulpits  of  that 
day,  the  visitor  found  himself  under  the  shadow  of  the  elm  which 
reared  its  grandly  graceful  form  in  the  street,  directly  before  the 
southern  door.  On  the  other  three  sides  of  the  house,  spread  a 
widely-cleared  space,  still  cumbered  with  stones  and  stumps,  and 
extending  to  the  woods  upon  the  north,  all  distinction  having 
been  lost  between  the  "  meeting-house  common  "  and  the  burial- 
ground.  Here,  if  it  were  summer,  at  the  tables  offered  by  the 
broad  stumps,  or  in  the  shadow  of  the  near  woods,  the  people,  in 
the  brief  nooning  between  the  two  services,  discussed  their  lunch- 
eons and  the  gossip  of  the  week ;  the  men,  however,  not  failing  to 
step  across  the  way  to  sip  their  Sunday  flip  at  the  Deacon's  tavern, 
—  a  custom  always  held  in  honor  until  the  iconoclastic  days  of  the 
Temperance  Reformation. 

The  people  had  come  together  in  the  morning,  some  on  foot, 
many  on  horseback  with  women  on  their  pillions,  a  few  in  wagons, 
and  possibly  one  or  two  with  more  stately  equipage ;  and  all  dis- 
persed promptly  upon  the  afternoon  benediction :  for  the  late 
Sunday-dinners  were  waiting  sharpened  appetites;  and,  after  that, 
the  farmer's  chores  must  be  finished  by  sunset.  The  young  men 
and  maidens  had  other  engagements  for  the  evening. 

In  such  a  temple  as  we  have  described,  and  to  a  congregation 
like  this,  Thomas  Allen  preached  those  sermons,  and  taught  those 
lessons,  which,  to  this  day,  powerfully  influence  the  character  of 
Pittsfield;  and  the  earlier  of  which  were  among  the  chief  instru- 
mentalities in  giving  the  town  that  proud  position  which  it  holds 
in  Revolutionary  story.  Here,  too,  was  the  theatre  of  that  bold 
and  spirited  action  by  which  Pittsfield,  under  the  inspiring 
eloquence  of  its  pastor,  and  the  leadership  of  such  men  as  Brown, 
Easton,  Childs,  Noble,  Root,  Goodrich,  Strong,  and  Rathbun, 
responded  to  Faneuil  Hall.  As  we  shall  recount  the  story,  let  it 
be  remembered  that  its  scene  was  in  the  little,  plain,  brown,  Qua- 
kerish-looking meeting-house  under  The  Elm.  Nor  let  it  be  forgot- 
ten that  near  or  in  it  rallied  the  minute-men  on  Lexington  alarm; 
the  soldiers  who  followed  David  Noble  to  the  armies  of  Washing- 
ton, and  died  in  the  pestilence  at  Lake  Champlain ;  those  who 
followed  James  Easton  to  Canada,  and  those  who  in  Patterson's 
regiment  fought  in  the  battles  of  the  Delaware;  the  volunteers  who 
conquered  at  Bennington,  and  the  militia  who  were  decimated 
when  John  Brown  fell  at  Stone  Arabia.  The  soldiers  of  Pittsfield 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  159 

in  the  Revolution  made  their  rendezvous  on  the  same  spot  —  now 
her  beautiful,  elm-shaded  Park  —  whence,  in  later  times,  those  whom 
she  sent  to  a  mightier  but  not  more  glorious  conflict  took  their 
departure. 

The  dead,  in  the  early  years  of  the  settlement,  were  buried  in 
some  convenient  spot  near  their  residences  when  living ;  and  some 
of  these  primitive  cemeteries  still  remain.  At  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Plantation  in  1753,  the  committee  intrusted  with  "  the 
affair  of  the  meeting-house  was  also  instructed  to  report,  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Proprietors,  '  a  place  or  places  to  bury  the 
dead;'"  and  the  fact  that  no  record  of  it  appears  affords  no 
evidence  that  their  report  was  not  actually  made  and  adopted. 
There  is  no  means  of  determining  when,  how,  or  by  whom,  the 
site  of  either  the  meeting-house  or  the  burial-ground  was  finally 
fixed.  In  1767,  a  proposition  either  to  change  the  location  of  the 
latter,  or  to  fence  and  clear  it,  was  referred  to  Deacon  Josiah 
Wright,  Capt.  Israel  Stoddard,  and  David  Bush ;  with  whom  it 
lingered  in  Committee  until  November,  1769,  Avhen  it  was  voted, 
*'  forthwith  to  clear  the  ground  for  a  burial-place,  and  that  David 
Bush  be  a  committee  to  see  it  perfect,  and  also  fenced,  and  the 
timber  thereon  to  be  employed  therefor;  and  that  he  give  every 
man  a  chance  to  work  out  their  proportion  if  they  attend  accord- 
ing to  his  warning."  In  the  previous  year,  Eli  Root  was  directed 
to  provide  "a  spade,  a  howe  (hoe),  and  a  peck  for  digging  graves, 
and  to  take  charge  of  the  same."  Aaron  Stiles,  a  person  depend- 
ent, on  account  of  some  infirmity,  upon  public  support,  was  em- 
ployed for  many  years  as  "  saxton,"  both  as  grave-digger  and  in  the 
charge  of  the  meeting-house ;  and,  in  the  latter  work,  seems  to 
have  had  a  world  of  trouble  in  keeping  things  in  decent  order. 

The  meeting-house  commons  and  the  graveyard,  which  were 
soon  merged  in  each  other,  covered  all  the  space  embraced  within 
North  street,  the  old  line  of  East  Street  (including  the  present  Park 
Place),  a  line  drawn  past  the  north  side  of  the  Baptist  church,  and 
another  drawn  near  the  west  side  of  St.  Stephen's  to  meet  it  at 
right  angles.1  The  land  thus  described  was  the  south-west  cor- 
ner of  the  home-lot  held  in  trust  by  the  town  for  the  minister  who 

1  The  eastern  part  of  the  "Old  Burial-ground"  was  not  added  until  about  1812, 
when  ij  was  obtained  from  the  heirs  of  Mr.  Allen  to  offset  the  encroachment  of 
stores  upon  the  west. 


160  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

should  first  be  settled  in  it.  It  was  probably  taken  for  the  pur- 
poses named,  under  the  authority  granted  to  towns  of  appropriat- 
ing private  property  to  certain  public  uses;  paying  therefor  a 
reasonable  compensation.  There  may  have  been  some  doubt  as  to 
the  legality  of  the  proceeding  under  the  circumstances ;  but  when 
the  title  vested  in  Mr.  Allen,  upon  his  ordination  in  1764,  he  made 
a  deed  of  gift,  conveying  it  to  the  town.1 

Pittsfield  found  hardly  less  difficulty  in  settling  its  first  minister 
than  in  building  its  first  meeting-house ;  but  it  arose  from  theologi- 
cal instead  of  pecuniary  obstacles.  What  the  differences  of  opinion 
which  agitated  the  town  were,  or  precisely  how  parties  were 
arrayed  in  respect  to  them,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  doctrinal 
controversies  of  much  bitterness  had  long  disturbed  the  congrega- 
tional fold  in  New  England ;  and  among  those  who  entered  most 
vehemently  into  the  strife  were  distinguished  laymen,  no  less  than 
eminent  divines,  of  the  Stoddard  and  Williams  names.  And  it  is 
hardly  to  be  questioned  that  the  representatives  in  Pittsfield,  of 
those  intimately-allied  families,  partook  of  their  theological  acerbi- 
ties, and  that  out  of  this  grew  the  opposition  to  several  of  the 
unsuccessful  candidates  for  the  first  pastorate  of  the  town. 

The  roll  grew  tedious  before  the  right  man  presented  himself. 
The  committee  of  1759  employed  a  Mr.  Clark,  who  preached  some 
time  as  a  candidate,  —  or,  as  the  phrase  of  the  day  was,  "  a  proba- 
tioner," —  but  was  not  honored  with  a  call.  In  1760,  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Garnsey  preached  four  months,  "  to  almost  universal  acceptance," 
said  the  proprietors;  "but,  that  they  might  not  be  taxed  with  rash- 
ness in  attempting  to  settle  him,  they  desired  that  he  would  offer 
himself  to  the  examination  of  the  Upper  Association  of  Ministers  in 
Hampshire  County,"  and  "  upon  their  recommendation,'1'  the  Pro- 
prietors promised  "  to  give  him  £90,  in  three  annual  instalments,  to 
enable  him  to  settle  himself,  and  £60  salary  annually,  to  be 

1  The  statement  that  the  land  was  thus  given  was  made  by  Rev.  William 
Allen,  D.D.,  in  a  pamphlet  published  during  the  lifetime  of  his  father  and  of 
many  others  who  were  conversant  with  the  facts,  some  of  whom  were  in  a  temper 
promptly  to  deny  the  assertion  if  any  doubt  of  its  correctness  could  have  been 
conjured  up.  But  we  are  not  aware  that  either  Dr.  Allen's  account,  or  the  tra- 
dition which  accords  with  it,  was  ever  questioned.  The  deed,  however,  has  dis 
appeared ;  and,  by  an  omission  not  singular  in  the  old  time,  no  record  of  any  trans- 
actions concerning  the  lands  in  question  was  ever  made  in  the  registry  of  deeds ; 
so  that  the  precise  terms  of  the  gift  are  unknown,  or  whether  any  limitations  were 
attached  to  it. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  161 

increased  forty  shillings  yearly  until  it  should  reach  £80."  Mr. 
Garnsey  left  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  required  sanction ; 
but,  learning  on  his  way  that  "  Col.  Williams  was  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing such  a  proceeding  necessary,"  he  wrote  that  he  "  had  almost 
no  objection  to  the  settlement  and  salary,  but  that  no  offers  must 
tempt  him  to  do  what  appears  better  omitted ;  that  they  must  be 
aware  that  the  steps  taken  are  quite  out  of  the  common  method  ; 
and  that  he  is  unwilling  to  take  too  much  pains,  or  to  appear  too 
forward,  to  settle  among  them."  He  had  "  several  other  objections, 
among  which  ill  health  was  not  the  least ; "  but,  as  he  positively 
declined  to  comply  with  the  condition  of  examination  which  the 
Proprietors  had  proposed,  he  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  specify 
them.  ' 

Upon  this  the  Proprietors  acknowledged  their  mistake,  de- 
clared that  "  their  affections  were  still  toward  him,"  and  requested 
him  "  to  preach  some  time  longer  with  them,  in  order  that  they 
might  obtain  a  further  acquaintance  with  him,  and  knowledge  of 
his  principles."  Mr.  Garnsey  complied,  and  "a  more  personal 
acquaintance  "  with  the  man  and  knowledge  of  his  principles  having 
only  "  still  further  endeared  him  to  the  people,"  they  uncondition- 
ally renewed  their  call  in  December.  A  month  later,  he  replied 
that  "  the  turn  of  thinking  he  had  discovered  among  some  particu- 
lar persons,  he  considered  in  such  a  light  as  rendered  a  happy 
union  very  difficult,  and  almost  utterly  impossible."  He  thought 
himself  "happy  that  the  discovery  was  made  so  timely  that  he  was 
able  to  extricate  himself  from  the  difficulty  in  which  he  was  like  to 
have  been  involved." 

Mr.  Gamsey  returned  to  his  native  town,  Durham,  Conn.,  and 
ultimately  retired  from  the  ministry.  What  the  objectionable  turn 
of  mind  he  had  discovered  in  some  at  Pittsfield  was  does  not 
appear :  but  the  machinations  of  a  small  though  powerful  minority, 
operating  shrewdly  upon  a  sensitive  mind,  are  apparent  in  the 
affair  and  the  effect  must  have  been  unhappy  upon  the  little  com- 
munity which  had  so  earnestly,  and  with  such  seeming  unanimity, 
declared  its  respect  and  affection  for  the  preacher  of  their  choice. 

In  August,  1761,  the  town,  having  been  incorporated,  invited 
Rev.  Enoch  Huntington  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  to  become  its 
pastor.  In  December,  Mr.  Huntington  replied,  that  "  although  the 
temporal  encouragements  held  out  at  Pittsfield"  —  the  same 
which  had  been  tendered  Mr.  Garnsey  —  "  were  larger  and  better 
11 


162  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

than  could  be  offered  or  exp.ected  at  Middletown,  yet  Providence 
seemed  to  point  at  his  tarrying  there."  The  circumstances  which 
were  urged  by  "the  judicious,"  and  which  weighed  upon  his  own 
mind,  in  favor  of  this  determination,  were  "  the  great  numbers  and 
unity  of  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  the  danger,  that,  if  he  left 
them,  they  might  become  divided  ;  and  the  more  so,  as  there  was 
a  separate  church  and  meeting  which  might  draw  away  numbers 
from  that  to  which  he  ministered  if  it  were  left  for  a  time  desti- 
tute. "God,  in  his  providence,  had  called  him  to  Middletown 
when  there  seemed  to  be  no  manner  of  reason  for  refusing  to  go  ; 
and  the  longer  he  stayed,  the  more  difficult  it  proved  for  him  to 
leave,  although  he  confessed  a  great  liking  and  affection  for  the 
people  of  Pittsfield."  Evidently  a  noble-hearted  and  conscientious 
Christian  minister,  this  Mr.  Huntington ;  true  to  his  calling,  and  a 
man  whom  any  people  might  have  been  glad  to  receive  or  to 
retain. 

The  next  effort  to  supply  the  place  with  a  settled  minister,  of  which 
we  have  knowledge,  was  in  May,  1762,  when  Rev.  Amos  Tompson 
was  called  as  a  probationer.  We  know  nothing  of  this  gentleman, 
except  that  he  met  a  more  decided  opposition,  as  a  candidate,  than 
any  of  his  predecessors  had  encountered.  In  September,  twelve 
legal  voters  represented  to  the  selectmen  that  "  uneasiness  subsist- 
ing between  Mr.  Amos  Tompson  and  some  of  the  town,  who 
liked  neither  his  principles  nor  his  performance,"  they  had  mutually 
agreed  to  submit  their  differences  to  the  determination  of  Rev. 
Messrs.  Raynolds,  Bellamy,  Brinsraade,  Woodbridge,  and  Ashley; 
"the  dissatisfied  promising,  on  their  part,  if  the  council  advised  the 
settlement  of  the  candidate,  to  make  no  further  stir  in  the  mat- 
ter;" Mr.  Tompson,  on  the  other  hand,  consenting  "  to  quit  the 
town"  in  the  event  of  a  decision  adverse  to  him.  No  proper  case, 
however,  could  be  made  up  for  the  council  without  the  action  of 
the  town,  to  obtain  which  a  town-meeting  was  demanded. 

The  meeting  was  held ;  but  it  promptly  refused  to  accede  to  the 
proposed  arrangement,  and  proceeded  unconditionally  to  invite  Mr. 
Tompson  "to  settle  in  the  work  of  the  gospel-ministry  among 
them."  But,  either  that  he  considered  himself  bound  by  his  agree- 
ment with  the  dissatisfied,  or  that  he  thought  the  place  undesira- 
ble with  so  powerful  a  minority  arrayed  against  him,  —  we  hear 
no  more  of  him.1 

1  The  signers  of  the  petition  for  a  town-meeting,  who  may  be  presumed  among 
the  leaders  of  the  dissatisfied,  were  Joseph  Wright,  Joseph  Wright,  jun.,  Thos. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  163 

Mr.  Daniel  Hopkins  was  then  invited  to  preach  on  probation ; 
and,  nothing  coming  of  this,  Mr.  Daniel  Collins  preached  in  like 
manner  until  the  first  of  September,  1763,  when  the  town  voted, 
thirty-two  to  three,  to  invite  him  to  settle ;  but  an  adjourned  meeting, 
four  days  afterwards,  was  so  thinly  attended,  —  and  eight  appear- 
ing against  Mr.  Collins,  —  that  it  was  considered  useless  to  make 
him  any  offers ;  and  so  the  minority  again  triumphed.1 

On  the  9th  of  December,  1763,  the  town  decided  to  invite  Mr. 
Thomas  Allen  of  Northampton  to  preach  as  a  probationer;  and 
his  ministry  in  that  capacity  was  signalized  by  the  formation  of 
the  church,  —  a  duty  which  it  seems  had,  up  to  this  time,  been  sin- 
gularly neglected.  On  the  7th  of  February,  1764,  "  a  number  of 
members  belonging  to  different  churches"  met  at  the  house  of 
Deacon  Crofoot;  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  of  Great  Barrington, 
Rev.  Stephen  West  of  Stockbridge,  and  Rev.  Ebenezer  Martin  of 
Becket  (then  No.  4),  being  also  present.  A  Confession  of  Faith 
and  a  Covenant  were  drawn  up,  and  signed  by  eight  male  members, 
"  who  then  and  there  united  so  as  to  form  a  church  of  Christ  in 
this  place.2 

The  eight  names  signed  to  the  covenant  and  articles  of  faith 
are,  Stephen  Crofoot,  Ephraim  Stiles,  Daniel  Hubbard,  Aaron 
Baker,  Jacob  Ensign,  William  Phelps,  Lemuel  Phelps,  Elnathan 
Phelps.  Col.  "Williams,  Capt.  Goodrich,  and  other  prominent  inhab- 
itants, were  connected  with  churches  in  other  places,  but  did  not 
transfer  their  membership  until  some  months  later. 

After  the  proceedings  at  Deacon  Crofoot's  house,  those  who  had 

Morgan,  John  Waddams,  Phinehas  Belding,  Lemuel,  William,  and  Elnathan  Phelps, 
Israel  Dickinson,  Israel  Stoddard,  Israel  and  Elisha  Jones,  of  whom  the  last  four, 
at  least,  were  of  the  Williams-Stoddard  connection,  while  William  Williams  was 
one  of  the  Selectmen  to  whom  the  petition  was  addressed. 

1  Mr.  Collins  was  afterwards,  for  many  years,  the  minister  of  Lanesborough, 
dying  in  office,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  in  1822.     He  was  a  worthy  man,  but  was 
suspected  of  Toryism  in  Revolutionary  times.     His  election  as  minister  of  Pitts- 
field  might  have  somewhat  changed  the  complexion  of  the  town's  story. 

2  The  designation,  "  The  Church  of  Christ  in  Pittsfield,"  was  assumed  in  accor- 
dance with  the  custom  of  similar  bodies  where  but  one  existed  in  a  town.     It  was 
the  only  form  used  until  1817,  when  after  the  re-union  of  the  parish,  which  had 
been  divided  in  1809,  the  present  name  of  "The  First  Congregational  Church" 
was  adopted,  partly  because  the  old  style,  other  churches  having  been  formed  in 
town,  savored  too  much  of  asserting  an  exclusive  claim  to  the  Christian  name,  and 
partly  because  circumstances  rendered  it  expedient  for  the  organization  to  re-assert 
its  adherence  to  the  Congregational  form  of  church-government. 


164  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

taken  part  in  them  repaired  to  the  meeting-house,  where  Rev.  Mr. 
Hopkins  "preached  a  lecture,"  from  2  Cor.  viii.  5:  "And  this 
they  did,  not  as  we  hoped ;  but  first  gave  themselves  to  the  Lord, 
and  now  to  us  by  the  will  of f  God."  The  new  organization  was 
then  formerly  "  declared  to  be  a  church  of  Christ." 

By  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  the  concurrence  of  two  dis- 
tinct bodies  became  requisite  in  settling  a  minister ;  and  now,  by 
the  organization  of  the  church,  a  third  was  added. 

It  was  the  province  of  the  church  to  select  the  minister ;  of  the 
town,  if  it  approved,  to  ratify  the  choice,  and  fix  the  salary ;  and 
of  the  Proprietors  of  the  sixty  lots,  to  provide  the  "  settlement," 
or  outfit,  of  the  pastor  elect. 

The  church  not  disappointing  the  hope  hinted  in  Mr.  Hopkins's 
text,  and  doubtless  more  fully  expressed  in  his  lecture,  proved  a 
harmonizing  and  not  a  disturbing  element  in  the  electoral  triad. 
Meeting  at  the  house  of  Deacon  Crofoot,  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1764,  it  unanimously  elected  Mr.  Thomas  Allen  to  the  pastorate, 
and  immediately  announced  its  choice  to  the  town ;  which  on  the 
same  day,  as  promptly  and  unanimously  concurring,  resolved  to 
tender  Mr.  Allen  a  salary  of  £60  per  annum,  to  be  increased  £5 
yearly,  until  it  should  reach  £80,  which  was  then  to  become  his 
stated  stipend. 

The  Proprietors  also,  upon  the  same  day,  voted  him  £90,  in  three 
annual  instalments,  "  to  enable  him  to  settle  himself  among  them ; 
and  appointed  Col.  Williams,  Capt.  Goodrich,  James  Easton,  and 
Josiah  Wright,  a  committee  to  wait  upon  him  with  the  several 
votes ;  and,  if  he  accepted  the  pastorate  on  the  proffered  terms,  to 
agree  with  him  upon  a  time  and  council  for  the  ordination,  and 
make  the  necessary  preparations. 

The  committee  having  executed  their  trust,  Mr.  Allen  responded 
in  the  following  letter :  — 

To  THE  PEOPLE  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

Dear  Brethren,  —  Your  invitation  of  me  to  settle  among  you  in  the  gospel 
ministry,  I  have  received  by  your  committee  chosen  for  that  purpose ;  and  I 
apprehend  I  have  duly  considered  the  same.  In  answer  to  this,  your  invita- 
tion, I  would  say,  that  having  sought  divine  direction,  taken  the  advice  of 
the  judicious,  and  duly  consulted  my  own  judgment,  I  cannot  but  think  it 
my  duty  to  accept ;  and,  accordingly,  do  now  declare  my  cordial  acceptance 
of  the  same. 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  testify  my  grateful  sense  of  your  respect,  shown 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  165 

in  that  unexpected  good  agreement  and  harmony  that  subsisted  among  you 
in  the  choice  of  one  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints  to  preach  among  you  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

Nothing  doubting  but  that,  at  your  next  meeting,  you  will  freely  grant 
forty  or  fifty  cords  of  wood  annually,  or  as  much  as  you  shall  think  sufficient, 
and  some  small  addition  to  my  settlement,  either  by  grant  in  work,  or  what- 
ever, out  of  generosity,  by  subscription  or  whatever  way  you  please,  I  now 
stand  ready  to  be  introduced  to  the  work  whereunto  I  am  called,  as  soon  as 
a  convenient  opportunity  shall  present  itself. 

These  from  your  affectionate  friend, 


PITTSFIELD,  March  20,  1764. 

The  addition  of  forty  cords  of  wood  to  the  proposed  salary  was 
granted ;  and  the  mode  in  which  it  should  be  procured  was  long 
one  of  the  annual  items  of  town-business,  the  duty  being  some- 
times assigned  to  a  committee,  and  sometimes  alternating,  year  by 
year,  between  the  East  and  West  Parts.  Finally  it  was  commuted 
with  Mr.  Allen  for  an  allowance  of  money.  The  Proprietors  had  in 
previous  years  bestowed  some  labor  upon  girdling  the  trees  on 
"  the  minister's  home-lot ; "  and  the  requested  addition  to  the  set- 
tlement was  made  by  further  aid  in  continuing  the  clearing. 

The  ordination  of  Mr.  Allen  took  place  on  the  18th  of  April, 
the  following  naihed  clergymen  being  present,  "besides  several 
neighboring  ministers : "  Jonathan  Ashley  of  Deerfield,  Timothy 
Woodbridge  of  Hatfield,  John  Hooker  of  Northampton,  Samuel 
Hopkins  of  Great  Barrington,  Thomas  Strong  of  New  Marlborough, 
and  Adonijah  Bidwell  of  No.  1  (now  Tyringham).  The  first 
prayer  was  made  by  Mr.  Hopkins,  the  second  by  Mr.  Woodbridge ; 
Mr.  Ashley  gave  the  charge,  and  Mr.  Bidwell  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
fowship.  Mr.  Strong  offered  the  concluding  prayer.  The  sermon 
was  preached  by  Mr.  Hooker,  who  had  been  Mr.  Allen's  preceptor 
in  his  divinity  studies ;  and  it  was  one  of  the  only  two  productions 
of  that  clergyman  which  were  ever  printed.  "  The  whole,"  says 
Mr.  Allen's  record,  "  was  carried  on  with  decency  and  order." 
"  Thirty-one  members  were  added  to  the  church  in  the  first  year 
of  Mr.  Allen's  ministry,"  says  Dr.  Field. 


166  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  young  clergyman  who  was  so  auspiciously  introduced  to 
the  stage  upon  which  he  was  to  be  conspicuous  for  nearly  half  a 
century  was  descended  from  an  honorable  ancestry  of  industrious, 
virtuous,  pious  men.  His  earliest  ancestor  in  this  country  was 
Samuel  Allen,  a  native  of  England,  probably  of  Essex,  who  died  at 
Windsor,  Conn.,  in  1648 ;  whose  son,  Samuel,  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Northampton  in  1657.  The  third  of  the  name  was  a 
deacon  in  the  Northampton  church  when  Jonathan  Edwards  was 
its  pastor,  and  died  in  1739.  Next  came  Joseph  Allen,  the  father 
of  the  Pittsfield  minister,  —  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Edwards,  and  his 
steadfast  friend  in  the  difficulties  which  drove  that  great  man  from 
Northampton.  The  wife  of  Joseph,  and  the  mother  of  Thomas 
Allen,  was  Elizabeth  Parsons,  a  descendant  of  Joseph  Parsons,  an 
eminently  pious  early  settler.  She  died  in  1800,  more  than  eighty 
years  old. 

Thomas  Allen  was  born  at  Northampton,  Jan.  17,  1743,  —  the 
same  year  in  which  the  abortive  attempt  to  settle  Poontoosuck  was 
made.  Through  the  bequest  of  a  grand-uncle,  whose  name  he 
bore,  ample  provision  was  made  for  his  education  at  Harvard 
University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1762,  with  a  very  high 
reputation  for  scholarship,  especially  in  the  classics.  He  studied 
theology  under  the  dii-ection  of  his  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Hooker. 

His  son,  Rev.  William  Allen,  D.D.,  in  a  sketch  of  his  life 
printed  in  Sprague's  American  Annals,  portrays  the  character  of 
the  first  minister  of  Pittsfield  so  vividly,  and  so  entirely  in  accord 
with  all  the  evidence  within  our  reach,  as  well  as  with  the  report 
of  those  who  knew  Mr.  Allen  in  his  last  years,  that  we  transcribe 
it  with  the  full  conviction  that  it  owes  little  to  the  partiality  of  a 
filial  pen.1 

"  My  father  was  of  middle  height,  and  slender,  vigorous,  and  active ;  of 
venerable  gray  hairs  in  his  age ;  of  a  mild,  pleasant,  affectionate  counte- 
nance ;  hospitable  to  all  visitors,  and  always  the  glad  welcomer  of  his  friends. 
As  he  was  very  honest  and  frank,  and  had  a  keen  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  as  he  lived  when  high  questions  were  debated,  it  is  not  strange  that 
those  whom  he  felt  called  upon  to  oppose  should  have  sometimes  charged 
him  with  indiscreet  zeal ;  but  he  cherished  no  malice,  and  his  heart  was 
always  kind  and  tender.  Simple  and  courteous  hi  his  manners,  sincere  in 
his  communications,  and  just  in  his  dealings,  he  set  his  parishioners  an 

1  We  are  also  indebted  to  the  same  source  for  the  ancestral  record  of  Mr. 
Allen. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  167 

example  of  Christian  morals.  The  atonement  of  the  Divine  Redeemer,  the 
evangelical  doctrines  of  grace,  and  their  application  to  the  practical  duties 
of  life  in  the  various  relations  of  society,  were  the  favorite  subjects  of  his 
public  sermons  and  private  conversations.  He  explained  them  without  the 
formality  of  logic,  but  with  a  happy  perspicuity  of  style,  and  recommended 
and  enforced  them  with  apostolic  zeal.  As  he  wrote  out  most  of  his  sermons 
in  AVeston's  shorthand,  he  usually,  in  his  preaching,  read  them  from  his 
notes ;  but  he  threw  into  them,  with  but  little  action,  great  fervor  of  spirit. 
Sometimes,  in  his  extemporary  addresses  at  the  Communion-table,  his  trem- 
bling voice  and  kindling  eye  and  animated  countenance  were  quite  irresist- 
ible. 

Nothing  need  be  added  to  this  as  a  portrait.  But  popular  tra- 
dition —  which  always  preserves  that  in  a  man's  character  which  in 
the  popular  comprehension  seems  odd,  to  the  neglect  of  what  is 
intrinsic  and  sterling  —  gives  prominence  in  its  memories  of  Mr. 
Allen,  not  to  his  deep  religious  sentiment,  nor  even  to  the  purity 
of  his  patriotism  and  his  advanced  ideas  of  political  rights,  but  to 
the  mode  in  which  his  earnest  and  sti'aightforward  nature  led  him 
to  manifest  those  great  qualities.  It  remembers  him  as  a  politician 
devoted  to  his  party,  —  as  a  Whig  of  the  Revolution,  whose  zeal 
led  him  to  take  up  arms  in  an  emergency ;  but  it  forgets  the  rea- 
soning, which,  in  Mr.  Allen's  conscience,  justified  a  departure  from 
ordinary  clerical  etiquette  at  the  crisis  in  which  he  was  placed. 

History  is  not  likely  to  fall  into  this  error,  as  regards  the  secular 
principles  upon  which  he  acted ;  but  as  he  did  not  obtrude  the 
inner  springs  by  which  he  was  governed  when  occasion  did  not 
require  their  display,  and  as  that  which  it  falls  within  our  province 
to  record  of  him  is  chiefly  of  a  secular  character,  justice  to  his 
reputation  as  a  minister  of  religion  demands  that  we  should  bear 
testimony  in  advance  to  what  cannot  well  be  connected  with  the 
thread  of  the  story,  —  that  his  political  was  an  outgrowth  of  his 
religious  life.  The  memoranda  —  mostly  intended  only  for  his 
own  eye —  show,  that  in  the  commonest,  as  well  as  in  the  most  con- 
spicuous of  his  secular  acts,  he  was  moved  by  a  religious  spirit. 

In  the  private  exercises  of  devotion  he  was  constant;  and,  how- 
ever he  may  have  at  times  thrown  off  the  etiquette  of  his  sacred 
profession,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  its  essential  spirit  was 
preserved  and  its  essential  duties  were  performed  in  the  most 
trying  moments  of  military  and  political  excitement,  as  the  reader 
will  have  opportunity  to  note  in  one  or  two  remarkable  instances. 


168  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Nor  does  even  tradition  hint  a  single  word  or  deed  of  Mr.  Allen 
inconsistent  with  the  purest  Christian  morals.  His  peculiarity  — 
which  was  the  joint  result  of  his  temperament  and  of  the  epoch 
in  which  he  lived  —  was,  that  he  held  in  small  respect  any  religious 
faith  which  did  not  manifest  itself  in  outward  acts,  and  especially 
in  those  done  for  the  common  good,  and  that  he  esteemed  resist- 
ance to  every  form  of  oppression,  and  devotion  to  the  political 
principles  best  adapted  to  the  preservation  of  equal  rights,  to  be 
among  the  most  sacred  duties.  In  the  Revolution,  moreover, 
while  his  ardent  temperament,  without  any  other  inspiration, 
would  have  made  him  as  fervid  a  patriot  as  his  kinsmen  of  Ticon- 
deroga  fame,  he  had  the  additional  incitement,  that,  with  the  major- 
ity of  New-England  clergymen,  he  believed  that  the  cause  of 
pure  and  unfettered  religious  worship  was  bound  up,  as  it  really 
was,  in  that  of  the  colonies,  and  that  that  cause  was  therefore  holy. 
This  view  of  Mr.  Allen's  character,  which  accords  strictly  with 
the  evidence,  is  also  necessary  in  order  to  its  consistency,  and  to 
explain  facts  which  could  not  be  made  clear  by  any  theory  of 
eccentricity,  —  a  solution  of  biographical  problems  which  is  oftener 
due  to  the  laziness  of  the  investigator  than  to  any  idiosyncrasy  of 
his  subject. 


VIEW  OF  THE  PARSONAGE. 

In  1768,  the  three  annual  instalments  of  Mr.  Allen's  outfit 
having  come  due,  and  been  paid,  and  his  house  having  probably 
been  built,  he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Lee 
of  Salisbury,  Conn.,  a  descendant  of  William  Bradford,  the 
Pilgrim  Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  and  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious of  the  leaders  who  came  over  in  the  May  Flower.  Mr. 
Allen  brought  his  bride  home  to  Pittsfield,  through  the  narrow 
wood-roads,  mounted  on  a  pillion  behind  him. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ANTE-REVOLUTIONARY   POLITICS. 
[I76I-JUNE,  1774.] 

Public  Sentiment.  —  Its  Leaders  in  Pittsfield.  —  Israel  Stoddard.  —  Woodbridge 
Little. — William  Williams.  —  Rev.  Thomas  Allen. — Elder  Valentine  Rathbun. 
—  James  Easton.  —  William  Francis.  —  Josiah  Wright.  —  Oliver  Root.  —  Da- 
vid Noble.  —  John  Strong.  —  Charles  Goodrich.  —  Israel  Dickinson.  —  Dr. 
Timothy  Childs. — John  Brown.  —  Eli  Root. — Daniel  Hubbard.  —  Census  of 
1772.  —  Censorship  of  the  Town  Records.  —  Revolutionary  Measures.  —  In- 
structions to  Representatives.  —  Action  regarding  the  Boston  Tea-party. 

~T"T"7"HILE  home-affairs  were  taking  shape  under  the  town- 
VV  organization  of  Pittsfield,  the  storm  of  revolution  was 
gathering  over  the  Province.  "Writs  of  Assistance,  the  Stamp 
Act,  the  Townsend  Revenue  Acts,  the  British  garrison  in  Boston 
with  its  consequences,  followed  each  other  in  evil  procession,  and 
were  met  by  resistance  in  the  courts  of  law,  by  legislative  protest 
in  the  General  Court,  by  the  spirited  action  of  Boston  and  other 
towns,  and  by  the  more  or  less  tumultuous  outbreaks  of  the 
metropolis.  In  the  contests  and  divisions  which  arose  among  the 
people  concerning  the  wisdom  and  the  rightfulness  of  these  several 
modes  of  resistance  to  the  royal  and  parliamentary  will,  Berkshire, 
although  isolated  upon  the  extreme  verge  of  the  Province,  intense- 
ly sympathized.  Few,  perhaps  none,  of  her  citizens  wished  the 
parliamentary  schemes  to  be  persisted  in ;  but  many  hoped  for 
redress  from  a  returning  sense  of  justice  in  Great  Britian,  and 
believed  that  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the  measures  adopted  at  Bos- 
ton hindered  that  result.  It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  they 
could  comprehend  how  deeply  considered  was  the  ministerial 
policy,  and  how  perfectly  it  coincided  with  the  popular  feeling  of 
the  kingdom.  Even  the  most  advanced  Whigs  owed  their  posi- 
tion to  long  contemplation  of  the  radical  evils  which  the  substitu- 

189 


. 

170  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

tion  of  the  Provincial  for  the  Colonial  charter  had  introduced 
into  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts ;  from  which  they  regarded 
the  new  encroachments  of  the  home-government  to  be  a  natural 
and  inevitable  outgrowth.  While  they  found  it  expedient  to 
direct  popular  opposition,  for  the  time,  exclusively  against  im- 
mediate and  palpable  wrongs,  they  —  if  they  did  not  from  the 
first  look  forward  to  absolute  independence  —  anticipated  no  per- 
manent security  for  their  political  rights  from  any  measure  short  of 
a  substantial  restoration  of  the  charter  of  1628.  And  the  tenacity 
with  which  the  Revolutionary  leaders  in  Berkshire  —  more  firmly 
than  those  in  other  sections  of"  the  Province  —  clung  to  this  idea 
afterwards  led  to  consequences  of  great  importance  to  the  county. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  opinions  of  many  were  warped  by  the 
possession  or  the  hope  of  the  offices  which  the  Provincial  charter 
placed  mostly  at  the  disposal  of  the  royal  governor.  The  sympa- 
thy of  others  was  conciliated  to  the  party  of  the  Government  by 
sentiments  a  little  more  generous :  by  the  ties  of  long  and  friendly 
association,  gratitude  for  past  favors,  family  tradition,  lessons  of 
loyalty  and  reverence  for  the  king's  representative  learned  in 
childhood.  The  sweet  influences  which  Province  House  so  well 
knew  how  to  throw  out  had  a  peculiar  charm  for  the  secluded 
magnates  of  Western  Massachusetts,  upon  whom  they  had  long 
been  sedulously  brought  to  bear,  and  not  unfrequently  with  success. 

But  here,  as  elsewhere,  while  principle,  temperament,  or  interest 
arrayed  some  classes  at  once  and  decidedly  upon  one  side  or  the 
other  of  the  rising  strife,  the  great  body  of  the  people  were  slow 
in  uniting  upon  the  measures  rightful  and  proper  to  be  adopted,  in 
regard  to  parliamentary  acts,  by  which,  as  few  ventured  to  deny, 
their  liberties  were  invaded.  In  the  minds  of  individuals,  the 
issues  of  the  day  hung  balanced ;  and  the  inclination  of  the  scale 
was  often  determined  by  a  very  slight  preponderance.  Every  fact, 
every  principle,  all  precedents  of  history  at  all  pertinent  to  the  dis- 
cussion, were  brought  into  it  by  the  pamphleteers,  the  newspaper 
writers,  the  orators,  and  the  preachers,  upon  one  side  or  the  other, 
and  gravely  and  anxiously  scanned,  as  well  by  those  who  finally 
adhered  to  the  king,  as  by  those  who  decided  for  the  colonies. 
And,  after  all,  the  sentiments  of  men  ranged  through  all  shades  of 
feeling,  from  the  loyalty  of  the  most  obstinate  Tory,  to  the  fervor 
of  the  Revolutionist,  who,  from  the  beginning,  foresaw  and  rejoiced 
in  the  end. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  171 

The  letters  which  passed  between  confidential  friends  showed 
how  undetermined  some  of  the  most  upright  men  long  remained, 
how  well  they  discerned  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  and  how 
thoroughly  they  appreciated  the  responsibilities  which  pressed  upon 
themselves.  This  responsibility  lay  heavily  upon  the  leaders  of 
public  sentiment  in  towns,  —  a  class  of  men  even  more  power- 
ful then  than  now :  and  few  took  {heir  stand  without  long  and 
severe  thought,  a  profound  consideration  of  consequences,  and  pro- 
tracted consultation  with  those,  in  the  phrase  of  that  day,  so  signif- 
icantly styled  "the  judicious;"  not  many  without  trustful  and 
earnest  prayer. 

In  reading  their  letters,  we,  of  course,  discover  the  writers  to 
have  been  influenced  by  their  several  natural  temperaments,  habits 
of  thought,  associations  in  life,  and,  whether  consciously  or  not, 
biassed  by  private  interests;  but,  in  a  vast  majority  of  instances, 
nobler  considerations  dominated. 

These  municipal  magnates  were,  almost  without  exception,  men 
of  some  property,  which  must  needs  be  endangered  in  such  a 
conflict  as  resistance  to  the  king's  authority  was  sure  to  provoke. 
Many  were  rising  and  ambitious  men,  and  well  aware,  that,  as  they 
chose  their  sides  now,  their  aspirations  would  be  brought  to  bloom 
or  blight.  Some,  as  officers  under  the  royal  commission  in  the 
old  wars,  had  been  trained  to  habits  of  military  subordination  and 
submission  to  royal  authority  which  it  was  hard  to  throw  off,  and 
none  the  less  so  when  it  happened  that  there  was  half-pay 
on  the  British  peace-establishment  to  be  forfeited  in  so  doing. 
Some,  in  subscribing  the  oaths  prescribed  to  be  taken  by  those 
appointed  to  civil  and  military  office,  had  assumed  obligations 
whose  repudiation  they  found  it  difficult  to  reconcile  with  their 
consciences.1 

1  The  oath  included  the  following  clause :  "  And  I  do  swear  that  I  will  bear 
faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty  King  George,  and  him  will  defend  to  the 
utmost  of  my  power  against  all  traitorous  conspiracies  and  attempts  whatsoever 
which  shall  be  made  against  his  Person,  Crown,  or  Dignity.  And  I  will  do  my  ut- 
most endeavor  to  disclose  and  make  known  to  his  Majesty  and  his  successors  all 
treasons  and  traitorous  conspiracies  which  I  shall  know  to  be  against  him  or  any 
of  them.  .  .  .  And  all  these  things  I  do  plainly  and  sincerely  acknowledge  and 
swear  according  to  the  express  words  by  me  spoken,  and  according  to  the  plain 
common  sense  and  understanding  of  the  same  words,  without  any  equivocation, 
mental  evasion,  or  secret  reservation  whatever."  The  latter  clause  was  framed 
with  special  reference  to  the  Jesuitical  interpretation  of  the  oath  by  the  Jacobites  ; 
but  it  bore  hard  upon  the  position  of  the  Massachusetts  office-holders,  as  many 
of  them  thought. 


172  HISTOBY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

There  is  matter  for  wonder  in  the  bold,  far-seeing  wisdom  and 
unselfish  patriotism  which  finally  prevailed  with  so  large  a 
majority  of  those  who  were  required  to  stake  large  personal  in- 
terests upon  the  doubtful  issue :  there  is  none  that  many,  even 
of  those  afterwards  among  the  truest  and  most  uncompromising, 
were  not  at  once  ready  to  unite  with,  their  more  ardent  and  im- 
pulsive compatriots,  or  with  those  whom  close  observation  had 
enabled  early  to  detect  the  fatal  canker  in  the  Provincial  Con- 
stitution. 

The  event  proved  that  wisdom  accorded  with  the  impetuosity 
of  youth  and  the  ardor  of  radicalism ;  but  even  then  Massachusetts 
councils  needed  a  retarding  power,  lest,  by  too  rapid  strides, 
she  might  dangerously  disconnect  herself  from  colonies  whose 
patriotism,  although  not  less  sincere,  had  not  been  spurred  by 
the  same  sharp  contact  with  tyranny,  and  whose  loyal  traditions 
were  not  so  obliterated  from  the  popular  heart. 

But,  besides  the  conservative  men  who  were  at  heart  and 
essentially  Whigs,  —  who  soon  ripened  into  brave  and  decided 
Whigs,  —  there  was  a  considerable  party  whom  no  provocation 
on  the  part  of  the  British  government  could  repel  from  their 
allegiance ;  and  nowhere  did  the  patriotic  spirit  encounter,  in  this 
class,  a  more  bitter,  powerful,  and  subtle  enemy  than  in  Pittsfield. 
The  influence  of  age,  wealth,  and  official  position  was  nearly 
united  here  against  all  the  measures,  except  perhaps  very  humble 
remonstrance,  with  which  the  usurpations  of  the  mother  country 
were  met. 

The  Williams  and  Stoddard  families,  with  their  numerous  con- 
nections by  blood  and  marriage,  were,  with  few  exceptions,  at- 
tached to  the  Tory  interest.  Israel  Stoddard,  who  had  inherited 
from  his  father,  the  early  proprietor,  a  large  property  in  the  town, 
was  a  young  man,  having  been  born  in  1741 ;  but  he  was  major  in 
the  Berkshire  regiment  of  militia,  was  appointed  in  1765  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  and  was  'prominent  in 
town-affairs.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the  class  of  1758,  and 
appears  to  have  possessed  a  cultivated  mind.1 

1  The  consideration  in  which  Major  Stoddard  was  held  is  curiously  illustrated 
by  the  following  article  in  the  warrant  for  a  town-meeting  in  December,  1768: 
"  To  choose  a  committee  to  wait  upon  Israel  Stoddard,  Esq.,  to  know  of  him  the 
foundation  of  his  resentment,  and  by  what  means  he  can  be  accommodated  to  his 
satisfaction."  The  town,  however,  resolved  that  it  had  no  right  to  act  upon  the 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  173 

Moses  Graves  and  Elisha  Jones  were  both  large  landholders  in 
the  township,  and  both  allied  to  the  Williams  and  Stoddard  blood 
But  the  ablest  and  shrewdest  of  the  Tories  was  Woodbridge 
Little,  the  first  lawyer  who  settled  in  the  town.  This  gentleman 
was  a  native  of  Colchester,  Conn.,  where  he  was  born  in  1741. 
He  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1760 ;  studied  theology  with  Rev. 
Dr.  Bellamy ;  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  officiated  for  two  years  as 
"  a  probationer  "  at  Lanesborough.1  He  then  abandoned  divinity 
for  the  study  of  the  law ;  and,  having  been  admitted  to  the  bar, 
established  himself,  in  1770,  in  practice  at  Pittsfield,  where  he  had 
become  a  resident  at  least  as  early  as  1766,  in  which  year  he  was 
elected  hog-reeve,  in  accordance  with  the  waggish  welcome  which 
towns  used  to  give  young  gentlemen  of  dignified  pursuits  as  well 
as  young  bridegrooms.  Many  a  worse  prank  was  played  upon 
the  worthy  lawyer  in  the  license  of  war-times. 

Mr.  Little  was  a  man  of  varied  learning,  and  profoundly  versed 
"  in  the  art  of  putting  things."  Most  of  the  political  papers  of  his 
party  were  drawn  by  him ;  and  nothing  could  have  been  fairer 
than  their  case  as  he  stated  it.  His  character  also  was  such  as  to 
give  weight  to  his  argument.  Indeed,  although  he  was  far  from 
ingenuous  and  although  his  position,  until  1777,  was  reprehensible, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  his  opinions  were  honestly  held, 
and  that  what  he  did  was  justified  by  his  own  conscience.  His 
associations  gave  rise  to  grave  suspicions,  which  received  con- 
firmation in  the  public  mind,  from  acts  which  may  have  been 
prompted  merely  by  natural  timidity,  instead  of  a  consciousness 
of  guilt ;  and  it  is  not  probable  that  he  ever  gave  direct  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy  after  the  actual  breaking  out  of  hostilities. 
He  was  regarded  by  the  patriots  of  Pittsfield  as  their  most  dan- 
gerous opponent,  not  because  he  was  the  most  malignant,  but  as 
the  ablest  and  most  subtle  of  the  Tory  leaders. 

article.  Among  the  customs  copied  from  the  English  aristocracy,  by  their  callow 
Provincial  imitators,  was  the  practice  of  arranging  names  in  college  catalogues, 
not,  as  now,  alphabetically,  but  according  to  the  social  rank  of  the  students. 
Thus  John  Adams,  upon  entering  Harvard,  found  himself  the  twelfth  man  of  his 
class  in  degree ;  which  his  son  thought  due  to  the  standing  of  his  mother's  family, 
the  dignity  of  the  house  on  the  paternal  side  not  entitling  him  to  that  position. 
In  Yale,  this  practice  continued  until  1768;  and,  by  its  scale,  Israel  Stoddard 
ranked  first,  Israel  Dickinson  twenty-fifth,  in  a  class  of  forty-three.  Woodbridge 
Little  stood  tenth  in  a  class  of  thirty-three. 
1  Dr.  Durfee's  Hist.  Will.  Coll. 


174  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  position  of  Col.  Williams  was  peculiar.  He  was  elected  rep- 
resentative to  the  General  Court  in  the  years  1762,  '64,  '69,  and  '70,1 
and  preserved  the  friendly  relations  with  the  royal  governors  which 
he  had  enjoyed  previous  to  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  In 
1771,  Gov.  Hutchinson  counted  him  —  with  Israel  Williams,  John 
Worthington,  and  Timothy  Woodbridge  —  among  the  eight  gen- 
tlemen whom  the  recent  elections  had  left  in  the  House,  who,  in 
common  times,  would  have  had  great  weight  on  the  side  of  the 
Government,  but  who  were  paralyzed  by  the  hopelessness  of  the 
minority  in  which  they  found  themselves.  Williams  also  held, 
by  appointment  of  the  governor,  the  offices  of  chief-justice  of  the 
Common  Pleas  and  judge  of  probate  for  Berkshire,  —  places 
which,  given  to  the  father  of  James  Otis  for  the  poorer  county  of 
Barnstable,  Hutchinson  thought  ought  to  have  secured  both  father 
and  son  for  the  Government  party.  Williams,  like  the  elder  Otis, 
had,  moreover,  been  permitted  "  to  name  many  of  his  friends  for 
other  offices ; "  and  enjoyed,  in  addition,  —  what  to  him  was  a  great 
enjoyment,  —  the  dignity  of  colonel  in  the  Berkshire  regiment  of 
militia;  and,  still  to  accumulate  the  ties  which  bound  him  to  the 
royalist  party,  he  was  a  half-pay  officer  on  the  retired  list  of  the 
British  army. 

By  the  charter  of  William  —  as  it  was  then  in  force  —  all  civil 
and  military  officers  of  the  province  were  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor, and  confirmed  by  the  council :  but  the  former  had  no  power 
of  removal  in  civil  cases ;  and  opportunities  to  make  new  appoint- 
ments could  only  occur  by  the  death  or  resignation  of  incumbents, 
or  upon  the  demise  of  the  king,  which  vacated  all  commissions. 
Col.  Williams,  therefore,  if  he  had  wished  to  support  the  popular 
cause,  had  little  to  fear  from  the  resentment  of  the  appointing 
power,  or  from  any  other  quarter,  so  long  as  he  refrained  from 
treasons  which  would  have  forfeited  his  half-pay.  The  obligations 
of  gratitude  and  old  association  were,  however,  strong,  and  the 
family  influences  which  surrounded  him  were  mostly  Tory :  al- 
though his  cousin,  Major  Hawley  of  Northampton,  was  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  Whig  leaders ;  and  his  favorite  brother-in-law, 
Col.  Partridge,  finally  arrayed  himself  upon  the  same  side.  But 
Hawley  was  always  a  timid  councillor,  and  Partridge  was  alarmed 

1  By  some  means,  the  exclusion  of  Pittsfield  from  representation  until  1763 
appears  to  have  been  done  away. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFI'ELD.  175 

and  disgusted  by  what  he  deemed  the  unjustifiable  excesses  at 
Boston. 

All  through  the  ante-Revolutionary  troubles  we  are  called  upon 
to  remark  the  extreme  sensitiveness  of  "  the  River-Gods  of  the 
Connecticut,"  and  their  no  less  magnificent  kindred  among  the 

'  O  O 

Berkshire  Hills,  to  the  slightest  infractions  of  law,  order,  and  public 
decorum,  on  the  part  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  —  a  fastidiousness 
whigh,  creditable  enough  within  certain  limits,  when  carried  to 
extremes  made  some  very  worthy  men  Tories,  and  rendered  others 
very  lukewarm  "Whigs.  They  seem  to  have  belonged  to  the  class 
of  moralists  who  consider  political  rascality  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  eminent  respectability.  Col.  Partridge  gave  expression  to  this 
feeling  with  no  exceptional  force  in  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter,  dated  "  Hatfield,  March  21,  1768,"  referring  to  the  refusal 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  notice  a  severe  attack  by  Dr. 
Joseph  Warren  upon  Gov.  Bernard,  which  was  published  in  "  The 
Boston  Gazette  "  on  the  29th  of  the  preceding  month. 

"  The  Green-villain  spirit  against  America  rather  increases ; l  and  the  late 
wretched  doings  atJBoston,  about  the  beginning  of  this  month,  will  increase 
that  spirit  in  England.  I  mean  the  scurrilous  libel  against  ye  Governor,  not 
much,  if  any,  short  of  a  blasphemy,  and  the  disregard  with  which  the 
House  treated  it.  I  am  settled  in  my  opinion,  that  the  late  conduct  of  ye 
House  will  bring  on  a  demolition  of  our  charter,  unless  we  are  treated  by 
King  and  Parliament  as  a  people  insane,  and  so  not  to  be  punished  until  we 
come  to  our  wits."  a 

Few  men  in  the  Province  had  stronger  or  more  numerous  bonds 
of  attachment  to  the  Government  party  than  Col.  Williams ;  and 
surely  such  inspiration  from  his  Whig  friends  as  that  to  be 
derived  from  the  above  quotation  was  not  likely  to  weaken  them. 

But,  however  pleasant  his  relations  had  been  with  the  royal 
authorities  of  Massachusetts,  his  experience  of  the  English  com- 
manders in  the  army  had  been  galling  in  the  extreme ;  and  the 
remembrance  must  have  been  bitter.  His  desire,  also,  to  stand 
well  with  the  people  was  strong ;  and  it  is  evident  that  he  had  a 
secret  understanding  with  the  local  Whig  leaders.  The  tradition 
is,  that  when  partisan  jealousy  ran  high,  as  the  outbreak  of  hostil- 

Col.  Partridge  had  just  received  some  "  prints  "  from  Boston,  with  news  from  Eng- 
land of  the  change  in  the  ministry  and  the  state  of  public  feeling  there. 
*  T.  C.  C.,  p.  220. 


176  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ities  approached,  or  perhaps  immediately  after  they  had  actually 
occurred,  he  was  summoned  before  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  in 
order  to  explain  his  position,  and  that  he  succeeded  in  convincing 
that  rather  exacting  conclave  of  his  loyalty  to  the  popular  cause ; 
and  moreover,  that,  being  too  old  for  military  service,  it  was  for  the 
public  interest  that  he  should  avoid  any  overt  act  that  would  for- 
feit the  half-pay  which  he  received  in  gold,  and  spent  among  his 
neighbors.  It  soon,  however,  became  impossible  to  serve  J;wo 
masters,  and  we  find  him  filling  positions  inconsistent  with  alle- 
giance to  the  King. 

That  he  was  early  reluctant  to  come  in  conflict  with  the  popular 
feeling  was  shown  in  the  convenient  illness  which  prevented  him 
from  holding  a  Probate  Court  while  the  Stamp  Act  was  in  force.1 

Still,  in  that  momentous  period,  when  the  patriots  who  early 
comprehended  the  conspiracy  of  the  royal  closet  against  the  liber- 
ties of  the  colonies  were  painfully  moulding  a  public  sentiment 
which  should  have  boldness,  determination,  strength,  and  unity 
sufficient  to  meet  and  thwart  that  conspiracy,  —  in  the  doubtful 
years  of  that  great  moral  struggle  which  preceded  the  appeal  to 
arms,  —  William  Williams,  holding  the  chief  offices  of  the  county, 
and  possessed  of  far  more  personal  consideration  than  any  other 
man,  in  Pittsfield  at  least,  gave  the  weight  of  his  influence  to  the 
party  of  submission.  While  the  patriot  leaders  were  establishing 
the  people  in  the  principles  of  constitutional  liberty,  animating 
them  with  the  warmth  of  a  righteous  indignation,  and  instilling 
into  them  its  confidence  in  their  military  strength,  —  calling,  in  fine, 
from  chaotic  elements  that  mighty  power  which  we  name 
"  The  Spirit  of  '76,"  —  Williams  was  uniting  his  voice  with  those 
who  palliated,  if  they  did  not  justify,  the  encroachments  of  Great 
Britain ;  who  forbade  every  hope  of  redress  except  from  the  grace 
of  king  and  parliament ;  whose  perpetual  theme  was  the  inability 

1  In  a  letter  to  the  Registrar,  Hon.  Elijah  Dwight,  of  Great  Barrington,  now  in 
the  possession  of  Henry  W.  Taft,  Esq.,  Col.  Williams  says,  "  My  state  of  ill- 
health  has  prevented  my  attention  to  almost  any  sort  of  business ;  but,  the  Stamp 
Act  being  repealed,  and  being  some  better,  desire  you,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  disperse 
the  following  advertisement  among  the  several  towns."  The  advertisement 
announced  Probate  Courts  in  Stockbridge,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Willard, 
Innholder,  on  the  last  Tuesdays  of  April,  June,  August  and  October ;  in  Pitts- 
field  at  the  house  of  Deacon  James  Easton,  Innholder,  on  the  last  Tuesdays  of 
December  and  February.  The  letter  is  dated  Pittsfield,  June  14,  1766. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  177 

of  the  colonies  to  cope  in  arms  with  the  mother  country  ;  and  who 
carped  at  every  display  of  spirit  by  the  people,  the  towns,  or  the 
Provincial  legislature. 

Thus  on  the  side  of  the  submissionists  in  Pittsfield  were  the 
strong  conservative  sentiment  of  the  Williams-Stoddard  connec- 

O 

tion,  the  wealth  of  Israel  Stoddard,  Moses  Graves,  the  Jones 
brothers,  the  Ashley's,  and  others,  the  subtlety  and  legal  learning 
of  Woodbridge  Little,  and  the  personal  and  official  inflaaase  of 
Col.  Williams.  In  meeting  this  array,  the  "Whig  cause  had  gained, 
previous  to  1774,  several  able  champions,  who  gave  in  their  adher- 
ence to  it,  from  time  to  time,  as  party-lines  were  more  and  more 
sharply  drawn  by  the  progress  of  events. 

With  the  first  to  declare  themselves  was  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  who, 
from  zealous  non-conformist  ancestors,  had  inherited  the  purest 
principles  of  the  English  commonwealth,  and  believed  in  a  church 
without  a  bishop  hardly  more  implicitly  than  he  did  in  a  state 
without  a  king :  so  that,  while  he  meditated  no  treasons  for  the 
sake  of  abstract  theories  of  government,  the  princely  name  had 
for  him  no  sanctity  to  deter  from  resistance  to  royal  iniquity.  An 
innate  hatred  of  oppression  and  injustice,  a  zealous  devotion  to 
any  cause  to  which  his  sense  of  right  attached  him,  a  personal 
character  which  carried  weight  with  the  people,  and  a  happy  facul- 
ty for  enforcing  his  opinions  both  with  the  tongue  and  the  pen,  com- 
pleted the  qualities  which  eminently  fitted  him  to  be  a  leader  in 
times  of  revolution.  Placable  towards  his  own  enemies,  he  was 
an  excellent  hater  of  the  foes  of  his  country,  chief  among  which 
he  classed  the  Tories  and  George  the  Third.  He  charged  —  and 
modern  investigation  proves  him  to  have  been  correct  in  so  doing  — 
upon  the  monarch,  personally  and  primarily,  rather  than  upon  his 
ministry,  the  wrongs  which  his  government  inflicted  upon  America. 
An  entry  in  his  diary,  so  long  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war  as 
1799,  shows  how  lasting  and  intense  was  his  resentment  for  these 
wrongs.  Being  in  that  year  at  London,  and  having  seen  King 
George  pass  in  state  from  the  palace  to  Parliament  House,  he  re- 
corded the  incident  with  the  following  comment :  — 

"  This  is  he  who  desolated  my  country ;   -who  ravaged  the  American 

coasts  ;  annihilated  our  trade  ;  burned  our  towns  ;  plundered  our  cities  ;  sent 

forth  his  Indian  allies  to  scalp  our  wives  and  children ;  starved  our  youth  in 

his  prison-ships ;  and  caused  the  expenditure  of  millions  of  money,  and  a 

12 


178  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

hundred  thousand  precious  lives.     Instead  of  being  the  father  of  his  people, 
he  has  been  their  destroyer.     May  God  forgive  him  so  great  guilt  1 " 

The  evil  deeds  thus  denounced,  of  course  occurred  after  the  era 
which  we  are  now  considering ;  but  their  place  as  an  incitement  to 
feeling  was  then  supplied  by  political  wrongs  and  the  immediate 
presence  of  the  conflict:  and  we  have  introduced  the  incident,  out 
of  the  order  of  time,  as  showing  something  of  the  manner  and 
spirit  of  the  minister  who  made  the  Pittsfield  pulpit  one  of  the 
foremost  of  those  which,  throughout  New  England,  rang  with  de- 
nunciations of  the  oppressor  and  the  invader,  and  preached  the 
gospel  of  liberty  to  apt  listeners. 

Elder  Valentine  Rathbun,  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church, 
organized  in  1772,  was  no  less  ardent  in  his  patriotism  than  his 
Congregational  brother.  A  clothier  by  trade,  he  had  —  without 
abandoning  that  pursuit,  and  without  the  advantages  of  a  classical 
or  theological  education  — formed  the  church  to  which  he  ministered 
from  proselytes  made  by  his  own  preaching  in  his  own  house. 
The  results  of  his  public  speaking  indicate  that  its  style  was  ef- 
fective :  the  temperament  of  the  man  suggests  that  it  was  fiery, 
vehement,  and  nervous.  His  fellow-citizens  manifested  their  esteem 
for  his  character  and  his  talents  by  electing  him  to  important  county 
"  Congresses,"  —  over  which  he  often  presided,  —  and,  at  interesting 
crises,  to  the  General  Court :  although  his  extremely  radical  prin- 
ciples, and  passion  for  ultra,  not  to  say  violent,  measures,  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  his  popularity  when  the  blood  of 
the  people  was  heated  even  beyond  Revolutionary  fervor,  as  it 
often  was  when  Valentine  Rathbun  was  a  successful  candidate. 

James  Easton  was  a  builder,  and  also  kept  a  store  and  a  tavern, 
a  little  south  of  the  present  corner  of  Bank  Row  and  South 
Street,  the  latter  of  which  became  historical  in  connection  with 
the. Ethan  Allen  capture  of  Ticonderoga.  He  was  a  native  of 
Hartford,  but  removed  from  Litchfield,  Conn.,  to  Pittsfield,  in  the 
year  1763.  He  joined  the  church  by  letter  in  May,  17G4,  and  was 
chosen  deacon  the  next  September.  He  was,  from  the  first,  a 
prominent  citizen ;  and  his  letters  show  sound  sense  well  expressed, 
great  promptness  and  energy  of  character,  and  a  remarkable  com- 
bination of  zeal  and  judgment.  We  know  him  best  as  an  officer 
in  the  early  years  of  the  war ;  but  he  was  among  the  first  to  range 
himself  with  Mr.  Allen  upon  the  Whig  side. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  179 

Among  the  other  prominent  men  who  early  committed  them- 
selves to  the  party  of  liberty  were  Oliver  Root,  William  Francis, 
Deacon  Josiah  "Wright,  David  Noble,  and  John  Strong.  Our  infor- 
mation concerning  these  patriots  —  except  Col.  Root,  whose  early 
life  has  already  been  sketched  —  is  slight.  William  Francis  was  a 
native  of  Wethersfield,  and  was  among  the  first  settlers  of  Poon- 
toosuck.  Not  only  before  the  Revolution,  but  for  many  years 
afterwards,  he  was  held  by  his  townsmen  in  extraordinary  esteem 
for  his  discretion  and  integrity.  "  Governor  Francis,"  the  soubri- 
quet by  which  he  was  known  in  his  later  years,  is  still  remembered 
with  reverential  respect  by  persons  now  living.  Of  somewhat 
similar  character  was  Deacon  Wright,  afterwards  one  of  the 
earliest  Methodists  in  Pittsfield.  He  had  served  as  a  sergeant  in 
the  French  and  Indian  Wars. 

David  Noble  —  than  whom  no  Pittsfield  patriot  has  left  a  bright- 
er record  —  was  a  native  of  Westfield,  from  which  town  he  was  a 
volunteer  in  1755.  He  was  a  farmer,  trader,  and  tavern-keeper, 
living  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town,  and  had  accumulated  con- 
siderable property,  most  of  which  he  sacrificed  for  his  country. 
John  Strong  was  also  a  tavern-keeper,  living  where  the  Pomeroy 
Homestead  now  stands.  He  is  remembered  as  a  genial  and  popu- 
lar landlord,  but,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  was  often  chosen 
to  places  of  civil,  as  well  as  military  trust,  which  required  more 
than  a  common  share  of  intellectual  ability ;  and  he  seems  to  have 
been  quite  competent  to  fill  them. 

Charles  Goodrich,  —  who  continued  a  prosperous  citizen,  and  had 
attained  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  militia,  —  although  he  owned 
large  tracts  of  what  had  been  the  commons  lands,  had  allied  himself 
closely  in  town-affairs  with  the  party  of  the  settling  proprietors, 
and  was,  in  1764,  1769,  and  1770,  chosen  to  represent  the  town  at 
Boston.  Naturally  averse,  as  a  man  of  large  property,  to  danger- 
ous agitation,  his  sympathies  were,  nevertheless,  sincerely  with  the 
people,  and  not  altogether,  or  chiefly,  because  his  political  hopes, 
which  were  active,  rested  upon  them.  Prompt,  even  to  a  prone- 
ness  to  litigation,  in  maintaining  his  personal  rights,  the  same 
quality  roused  him  equally  when  the  chartered  privileges  and 
immunities  which  he  shared  with  his  countrymen  were  attacked. 
A  man  of  independent  thought,  and  of  discriminating  as  well  as 
decided  opinions,  while  adhering  firmly  to  the  principles  which 
commended  themselves  to  his  judgment,  he  was  disposed  occasion- 


180  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ally  to  differ  in  detail  from  those  with  whom  he  agreed  in  essen- 
tials ;  and  he  may  have  maintained  a  peculiar  position,  as  regarded 
the  Pittsfield  patriots  —  in  the  formative  period  of  Revolutionary 
sentiment,  as  he  did  afterwards  upon  the  question  of  civil  govern- 
ment in  the  new  commonwealth.  But  we  find  him  in  full  favor 
with  the  Whigs  as  soon  as  they  came  into  power ;  and  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  his  influence  had  previously  been  exercised  in 
harmony  with  them.  Such  men  as  he  are  more  apt  to  break  with 
their  party  in  the  hour  of  victory  than  while  the  struggle  is 
on. 

The  only  person  in  Pittsfield,  at  all  connected  with  the  Williams 
and  Stoddard  families,  who  is  known  to  have  sided  with  the 
patriots  before  hostilities  actually  commenced,  was  Israel  Dickin- 
son. This  gentleman  was  born  at  Hatfield  in  1735,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College  in  1758;  afterwards  receiving  his  master's 
degree  as  well  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  of  which  his 
kinsman,  Dr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  had  been  the  first  president, 
as  from  his  own  Alma  Mater.  In  college,  he  was  the  class-mate 
and  chum  of  Israel  Stoddard ;  and  both  were  the  friends  of  Wood- 
bridge  Little,  who  was  two  classes  below  them.  This  early  college 
intimacy  led  to  the  settlement  of  the  chums,  and,  soon  after,  of 
Little,  upon  three  adjoining  estates  in  a  pleasant  section  of  Pitts- 
field.  And  there  the  ante-revolutionary  troubles  found  them,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  cultivated  and  harmonious  intercourse,  inter- 
changing reminiscences  of  college-life,  and,  as  the  books  preserved 
by  their  descendants  prove,  indulging  and  cherishing  their  taste  for 
intellectual  pleasures.  Nothing  remains  to  show  when  this  delight- 
ful union  was  interrupted  by  the  political  differences  which 
estranged  the  friends,  if  they  were  estranged ;  but  immediately 
after  the  Lexington  fight,  when  Stoddard  and  Little  were  taking 
refuge  in  New  York  from  the  rage  of  the  people,  we  find  Israel 
Dickinson  prominent  in  the  military  operations  of  the  pa- 
triots. 

In  1771,  the  Whigs  received  a  valuable  accession  in  the  person 
of  Dr.  Timothy  Childs.  This  noted  patriot  was  born  at  Deerfield 
in  1748;  entered  Harvard  College  in  1764,  but  did  not  graduate; 
studied  medicine  in  his  native  town  with  Dr.  Thomas  Williams, 
and  established  himself  in  practice  at  Pittsfield  in  1771.  The 
young  physician  soon  won  popularity  and  influence ;  proved  him- 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  181 

self  an  effective  speaker,1  and  by  these  qualities,  as  well  as  by  the 
contagion  of  his  youthful  zeal,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  cause 
which  he  espoused. 

About  three  years  after  Dr.  Childs  had  planted  himself  at 
Pittsfield,  a  similar  acquisition  was  made  by  the  removal  to  the 
place  of  John  Brown,  a  young  lawyer  of  commanding  talents,  of 
noble  personal  appearance,  well  connected,  and,  withal,  a  true  man, 
—  one  destined  to  win  fame,  but  not  such  as  equalled  the  promise 
of  his  youth,  or  was  commensurate  with  the  deserts  which  ap- 
peared even  in  his  brief  career.  His  father,  Daniel  Brown,  a  native 
of  Haverhill,  settled  at  Sandisfield  in  1752 ;  and  his  prosperity 
there  was  remarked  by  Col.  Williams  in  a  letter  already  quoted. 
His  respectable  position  among  the  gentlemen  of  the  county  was 
attested  by  the  commission  of  the  peace  which  he  received  in 
1765.  His  son,  in  1777,  spoke  of  himself  as  having  "  had"  a  birth 
and  education  of  some  consequence."  John,  the  youngest  of  five 
brothers,  was  born  at  Haverhill,  Oct.  19,  1744;  was  graduated  at 
Yale  in  1771 ;  studied  law  at  Providence  with  his  sister's  husband, 
Hon.  Oliver  Arnold,  and  commenced  practice  at  Caghnawaga,  now 
Johnstown,  N.Y.,  where  he  held  the  place  of  king's  attorney. 
After  a  brief  stay  there,  e,arly  in  1773  he  transferred  his  residence 
to  Pittsfield,  where  Woodbridge  Little  had  previously  been  the 
only  man  of  law.  His  radicalism  at  this  time  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  quite  up  to  the  Boston  standard ;  but  his  principles 
were  fixed,  and,  proving  bold  as  well  as  prudent,  he  soon  received 
from  the  people  the  most  distinguished  marks  of  their  confidence, 
and  never  gave  them  reason  for  one  moment  to  repent  their  trust. 

Among  those,  who,  from  the  positions  in  which  we  soon  find 
them,  are  presumed  to  have  been  early  adherents  to  the  Whig 
cause,  are  Deacon  Daniel  Hubbard,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  The  West 
Part,  and  Eli  Root,  one  of  the  richer  residents  near  Wendell 
Square,  and  after  the  Revolution  a  worthy  magistrate :  both  men 

1  It  is  related  that  Dr.  Childs's  manner,  on  town-meeting  days,  was  to  halt  on 
his  professional  rounds,  enter  the  meeting-house,  stand  patiently  waiting  until  the 
subject  which  specially  interested  him  came  up  for  action,  when  he  presented  his 
views  quietly  but  with  precision  and  force,  after  which,  without  waiting  for  reply 
or  result,  he  left  the  house,  and  resumed  his  calls.  But,  doubtless,  when  subjects 
momentous  as  those  which  in  Revolutionary  times  claimed  the  attention  of  towns 
were  under  discussion,  this  nonchalant  manner  was  greatly  modified,  if  it  did  not 
entirely  disappear. 


182  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  sterling  character,  whose  determination,  energy,  and  place  in 
the  community,  made  them  of  eminent  service  to  their  party. 

By  the  nearly  perfect  census  of  the  population,  which  is  pre- 
served,1 the  number  of  families  living  in  Pittsfield  in  1772  was 
138 ;  of  inhabitants,  about  828.  The  leadership  which  swayed 
the  two  parties  in  this  little" community,  shut  up,  with  a  few  others 
of  like  composition,  among  the  hills,  shows  a  remarkable  pro- 
portion of  liberally-educated  men  as  well  as  others  of  decided 
intellectual  character  and  ability.  That  they  should,  in  some 
greater  measure  than  towns  at  the  east,  work  out  their  own 
political  problems  by  their  own  processes  was  natural.  That 
while  reaching  the  same  result  with  their  compatriots  at  Boston, 
while  sympathizing  with  their  struggles  in  defence  of  invaded 
rights,  and  according  to  them  the  respect  and  influence  which  was 
due  their  vanship  in  the  conflict,  they  should  hot  always  adopt 
the  prevailing  color  of  metropolitan  sentiment,  nor  always  applaud 
the  measures  which  that  sentiment  dictated,  was  inevitable. 
Aside  from  the  diverse  habits  of  thought  which  ordinarily  pre- 
vailed in  the  tw*o  sections,  and  setting  aside  for  the  moment 
the  absence  in  Berkshire  of  immediate  incitements  to  feeling, 
the  lack  of  those  means  of  intimate,  and  in  some  degree  secret, 
communication  with  the  masses,  which  the  Boston  leaders  possessed 
at  home,  would  alone  have  secured  this  result.  Thus  the  reason- 
ing which  made  clear  to  the  Boston  clubs  the  essential  difference 
between  the  sacking  of  Hutchinson's  house  and  the  swamping  of 
the  Honorable  East  India  Company's  tea  was  not  so  apparent 
to  the  comprehension  of  secluded  farm-houses  in  Pittsfield.  It 
was  otherwise  with  fundamental  maxims  of  government,  concern- 
ing which  public  discussion,  in  the  press  and  upon  the  rostrum, 
was  able  to  effect  unity  both  of  assent  and  application.  And  it 
was  otherwise,  also,  with  regard  to  parliamentary  and  executive 
acts,  obnoxious  functionaries,  and  Tory  statesmen,  —  objects  against 
which  it  was  quite  possible  for  the  central  revolutionists  to  con- 
centrate the  unbroken  opposition  of  their  party,  and  finally 
to  bring  that  party  to  comprise  so  large  a  majority,  that  it,  not 
without  good  right,  assumed  to  be  The  People. 

While  the  revolutionists  in  Pittsfield,  as  elsewhere,  were  grow- 
ing up  to  this  estate,  an  unfortunate  custom  existed  of  keeping 

1  See  Appendix  D. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  183 

the  minutes  of  town-meetings  upon  sheets  of  paper  loosely  stitched 
together,  which,  with  other  town-archives,  were,  at  intervals  of 
a  few  years,  inspected  by  committees  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
who  directed  what  should  be  permanently  recorded,  what  kept  on 
file,  and  what  destroyed.  It  will  readily  be  comprehended  how 
fatal  such  a  process  would  be  to  all  evidence  of  tergiversation  on 
the  part  of  the  inspectors. 

In  the  record  of  town-meetings  there  are,  in  fact,  previous  to 
June,  1774,  but  two  entities  bearing  upon  the  unsatisfactory  state  of 
affairs  with  the  mother  country.  One  of  these  was  in  March,  1768, 
when  William  Williams,  Josiah  Wright,  Stephen  Crofoot,  James 
Easton,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  were  appointed  "  to  examine  the 
Boston  letter  to  the  selectmen."  This  was  the  circular  sent  out  in 
accordance  with  the  vote  of  a  large  meeting  held  at  Farieuil  Hall, 
on  the  28th  of  the  previous  October,  to  consider  the  recently- 
passed  Townsend  Revenue  Acts.  It  proposed  an  agreement  to 
discontinue  the  importation,  and,  except  in  cases  of  absolute  neces- 
sity, the  consumption,  of  British  goods,  and  to  encourage  American 
industry,  economy,  and  manufactures.  The  Pittsfield  committee 
was  politically  divided,  and  there  was  an  excellent  prospect  for  two 
reports  and  excited  action ;  but  it  is  simply  recorded,  that  the 
article  in  the  warrant,  "  to  receive  the  report  of  the  committee," 
was  dismissed. 

The  other  vote  was  in  the  following  December;  and  merely,  in 
obedience  to  an  act  of  the  General  Court,  appropriated  £12  for  a 
town-stock  of  ammunition,  to  be  placed  in  charge  of  Deacon 
Crofoot. 

A  few  significant  papers  of  1774  —  "kept  on  file,  but  not  re- 
corded"— remain  in  the  town-archives,  and  indicate,  that,  until  the 
summer  of  that  year,  the  Tories,  by  professing  to  "be  as  averse  as 
any  of  the  patriots  in  America  to  taxation  without  their  own 
voluntary  consent,"  maintained  their  ascendency.  The  balance  of 
power  was  held  by  those  who,  afterwards  driven  by  the  continued 
encroachment  of  Great  Britain  into  the  Whig  ranks,  —  where  they 
belonged,  —  as  yet  shrank  from  co-operation  with  their  radical  ' 
brethren,  and,  in  preference  to  so  dangerous  alliance,  acted  with 
the  party  of  professions.  Timid,  but  dreading  political  rather  than 
personal  danger,  hoping  against  hope,  reasoning  against  reason, 
they  clung  to  their  trust  in  the  old  English  love  of  justice  and 
liberty;  and,  patiently  waiting  until  that  mythical  existence 


184  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

should  manifest  itself,  shuddered  more  convulsively  over  the 
slightest  exhibition  of  manly  spirit  in  Massachusetts  than  at  the 
most  atrocious  usurpations  of  king  and  parliament.  And  yet  they 
were  patriots  at  heart,  and,  when  driven  to  the  wall,  often  brave 
and  good  ones.  It  was  in  assuming  their  position,.not  in  defending 
it,  that  they  lacked  courage. 

The  nature  of  the  association  of  the  conservative  Whigs  with 
the  Tories  is  shown  in  the  instructions  which  the  town  gave  its 
representative  in  the  matter  of  the  Boston  Tea-Party ;  *  although 
the  illustration  is  not  altogether  perfect,  as  many  firm  Whigs  in 
the  interior  towns  —  and,  outside  the  clubs,  in  Boston  as  well  — 
did  not  fully  comprehend  the  necessity  for  a  measure  which  it  was 
so  easy  for  the  ill-disposed  to  stigmatize  as  a  riot. 

The  paper  is,  however,  interesting,  and  notwithstanding  its 
legal  phraseology,  which  is  due  to  the  authorship  of  Woodbridge 
Little,  is  readable. 

The  town,  having  adopted  the  report,  seems  to  have  conceived 
a  suspicion  that  it  might  at  some  time,  if  spread  upon  the  records, 
become  the  subject  of  unfriendly  criticism ;  and  so  resolved  that 
it  should  "be  placed  on  file  and  not  recorded,"  —  a  proceeding 
which  marks  the  sensitiveness  of  the  public  mind  at  this  juncture, 
as,  without  any  vote  to  that  end,  it  had  never  been  the  practice  to 
record  similar  documents.  It  is  singular  that  no  sharp-eyed  in- 
spector of  the  archives  ever  marked  it  "  to  be  burned,"  —  a  mode 
in  which  many  a  less  obnoxious  witness  of  changed  opinions  was, 
doubtless,  put  out  of  the  way. 

INSTRUCTIONS  OP  THE  TOWN  OF  PITTSFIELD  TO  ITS  REPRESENTATIVE 
REGARDING  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  TEA  IN  BOSTON  HARBOR,  Dec. 
16,  1773. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield  being  alarmed  at  the  extraordi- 
nary conduct  of  a  number  of  disguised  persons,  who,  on  the  evening  follow- 

1  It  was  an  old  custom  of  towns,  upon  the  choice  of  a  representative,  or 
whenever  new  and  important  legislative  questions  arose,  to  give  him  instruc- 
tions, drafted  by  a  committee  (to  whose  selection  much  care  was  given),  and 
adopted  by  the  voters.  These  instructions  had  no  binding  effect,  but,  of  course, 
carried  great  weight  with  the  representative,  who  was  generally,  but  far  from  in- 
variably, governed  by  them.  The  practice  was  a  relic  of  times  when  the  legislative 
function  was  exercised  by  the  whole  body  of  the  freemen,  and  suggests  the  reluc- 
tance of  the  people  wholly  to  delegate  it. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  185 

ing  the  sixteenth  day  of  December  last,  entered  on  board  the  ships 
commanded  by  Captains  Hall,  Bruce,  and  Coffin,  lying  in  the  harbor  of 
Boston,  then  and  there  breaking  up  and  destroying  three  hundred  and  forty- 
two  chests  of  tea  belonging  to  the  Honorable  East  India  Company,  a 
number  of  the  said  inhabitants  petitioned  the  selectmen  of  said  town  that 
a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  said  town  might  be 
called,  which  was  accordingly  done ;  and,  at  a  meeting  holden  on  the  tenth 
day  of  January  last,  the  said  town  appointed  a  committee  of  five  persons  to 
prepare  instructions  for  their  representative  relative  to  said  conduct,  and 
adjourned  said  meeting  to  the  twentieth  day  of  said  month ;  at  which  tune 
the  said  committee  reported  as  follows,  viz. :  — 

That  the  said  conduct  was  unnecessary  and  highly  unwarrantable, 
every  way  tending  to  the  subversion  of  all  good  order  and  of  the  Con- 
stitution, as  we  determine  that  the  king  himself  hath  two  superiors ; 
to  wit,  his  heavenly  King,  and  his  own  laws :  nor  was  there  ever  a 
more  flagrant  instance  that  even  the  perpetrators  of  the  fact  viewed  them- 
selves as  enterprising  an  act  in  itself  unlawful  and  unjustifiable ;  other- 
wise they  would  not  have  disguised  themselves,  or  have  attempted  it  in 
the  night. 

At  the  same  time,  we  are  as  averse  as  any  of  the  patriots  in  America  to 
being  subjected  to  a  tax  without  our  own  free  and  voluntary  consent,  and 
shall,  we  trust,  always  abide  by  that  principle.  And,  was  there  not  an 
alternative  between  the  destruction  of  said  tea  and  the  people's  being 
saddled  with  the  payment  of  the  duty  thereon,  we  should  not  have  the 
like  reason  to  complain ;  but,  as  far  as  we  live  in  the  country,  judge  other- 
wise. 

And  as  great  damage  hath  been  sustained  by  the  owners  of  said  tea 
in  the  destruction  thereof,  and  as  they  will  doubtless  seek  some  com- 
pensation therefor,  and  as  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province  have  here- 
tofore been  obliged  to  pay  large  sums  of  money  by  reason  of  the  like 
unjustifiable  conduct  and  proceedings  of  individuals  not  duly  authorized 
thereto,  — 

We  do  therefore  enjoin  it  upon  you,  that,  by  all  prudent  ways  and  means, 
you  manifest  the  abhorrence  and  detestation  which  your  constituents  have 
of  the  said  extraordinary  and  illegal  transaction,  as  also  of  all  the  other 
public  transactions  which  have  been  leading  to,  or  in  any  degree  countenan- 
cing, the  same ;  and  especially  that  you  do  not  directly  or  indirectly  consent 
to  any  proposals  which  may  be  made,  or  any  measures  which  may  be  taken, 
to  render  your  constituents  chargeable  to  any  payment  or  satisfaction  which 
may  be  required  to  be  made  to  the  owners  of  said  tea,  as  we  have  deter- 
mined, at  all  events,  never  to  pay  or  advance  one  farthing  thereto  ;  and,  if 
your  assistance  is  called  for,  that  you  exert  yourself  to  the  utmost  of  your 
power  to  bring  the  persons  connected  in  the  destruction  of  said  tea,  and 
other  such-like  offenders,  to  condign  punishment; 'and  it  is  the  expectation 


186  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  this  town,  that  you  strictly  adhere  to  these,  their  instructions,  as  you 
value  their  regard  or  resentment. 

WILLIAM  WILLIAMS. 

WOODBRIDGE   LlTTLE. 

DAVID  BUSH. 
En  ROOT. 
JNO.  BROWN. 

Committee. 
To  Capt.  CHARLES  GOODBICH. 

Jan.  19, 1774. 


CHAPTER  X. 

RESISTANCE   TO    PARLIAMENTARY    AGGRESSION. 
[MARCH  -  OCTOBER,  1774.] 

Boston  Port-Bill  and  Regulating  Acts.  —  First  Revolutionary  Town  Action  of 
Pittsfield.  —  Committee  of  Correspondence  appointed.  —  The  League  and 
Covenant  adopted.  —  Pittsfield  contributes  in  Aid  of  the  Sufferers  by  the  Port- 
Bill.  —  Obstruction  of  the  King's  Court.  —  Seth  Pomeroy.  —  Oliver  Weridell. 

THE  spring  of  1774  brought  events  which  everywhere  consol- 
idated the  Whigs,  and  made  broad  the  dividing  lines  between 
those  who  would  defend,  and  those  ready  to  surrender,  the  liberties 
of  the  Province. 

The  act  of  Parliament  which  soon  became  infamous  as  "  The 
Boston  Port-bill" — excluding  commerce  from  the  harbor  of  that 
town,  and  removing  the  seat  of  government  to  Salem  —  received 
the  royal  assent  on  the  31st  of  March,  and  was  printed  in  the 
Boston  newspapers  of  May  10. 

The  acts  "  for  the  better  regulating  the  government  of  the 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,"  and  "  for  the  impartial  adminis- 
tration of  justice"  in  the  same,  followed  closely,  and  wrought  an 
entire  abrogation  of  the  charter  in  all  those  particulars  by  which 
it  afforded  protection  to  civil  or  personal  liberty. 

Under  the  new  laws,  councillors  created  by  royal  mandamus, 
and  the  superior  judges  appointed  by  his  Majesty's  governor, 
held  office  during  the  king's  pleasure.  All  other  officers,  judicial, 
executive,  and  military,  were  appointed  by  the  governor,  indepen- 
dently of  the  Council,  and  —  except  the  sheriffs,  who  could  only 
be  displaced  with  consent  of  the  Council  —  were  removable  by 
the  same  sole  authority.  The  governor's  appointing  power,  —  a 
grievous  fountain  of  corruption,  even  with  the  checks  provided  by 
William's  charter,  —  now  concentrated  with  the  new  right  of 

187 


188  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

removal  in  the  unchecked  control  of  the  king  and  his  automatic 
representative,  was  fearfully  augmented. 

Town-meetings,  permitted  to  be  held  for  the  election  of  muni- 
cipal officers  and  representatives,  were  strictly  confined  in  their 
functions  to  the  bare  casting  of  the  necessary  ballots ;  and  special 
meetings  were  allowed  only  with  license  first  had  of  the  governor, 
designating  what  matters  alone  they  might  consider.  The  selection 
of  jurors  —  previously  made,  as  now,  by  the  selectmen,  with  the 
ratification  of  the  towns  —  was  given  to  the  king's  sheriffs.  Acts, 
passed  almost  simultaneously  with  the  others,  provided  for  quar- 
tering troops  in  America,  and  for  the  transportation  to  England 
For  trial  of  persons  charged,  like  the  soldiers  implicated  in  the 
Boston  massacre,  with  murders  committed  in  the  support  of  the 
royal  authority.  The  enactment  of  despotism  was  complete.  In 
the  new  system  of  government,  hardly  a  vestige  remained  of  those 
safeguards,  which,  in  the  Colonies  even  more  absolutely  than  in 
Great  Britain,  were  essential  to  the  preservation  of  liberty.  Prac- 
tically, nothing  whatever  in  the  perverted  Constitution  interposed 
between  the  people  and  the  sovereign's  will :  for  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, mighty  as  it  proved  by  its  advice,  was,  in  its  legis- 
lative capacity,  reduced  to  utter  impotence  by  the  governor's 
inexhaustible  prerogative  of  prorogation  and  dissolution ;  by  the 
unqualified  veto  which  he,  as  well  as  the  puppet  Council,  might 
exercise  upon  all  its  acts;  and  by  the  independence  of  its  appro- 
priations, enjoyed  by  the  governor  and  judges,  who,  by  another 
still  recent  innovation,  received  their  salaries  directly  from  the 
Crown. 

Thus  two  departments  of  the  Provincial  Government  —  the 
judicial  and  the  executive,  including  the  council  and  the  military 
—  were  the  mere  registrars  and  instruments  of  the  kind's  will; 

o  •  o  * 

while  the  third,  if  it  consented  to  assume  the  role  to  which  it  had 
been  assigned,  was  more  insignificant  for  good  than  either. 

Heretofore  the  people  of  the  Colonies  had  been  alarmed  by 
measures  of  Parliament,  which,  not  otherwise  oppressive,  were  taken 
in  violation  of  their  privileges,  either  under  the  charter  or  as 
English  subjects.  They  had  detected,  in  the  occasional  exercise 
of  powers  which  infringed  upon  colonial  rights,  the  insidious 
design  of  overthrowing  them  altogether.  Now  the  very  citadel  of 
all  right  was  attacked,  not  by  veiled  advances,  nor  by  sapping  hid- 
den foundations,  but  by  bold  and  crushing  assaults  upon  its  most 
jealously-guarded  defences. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  189 

Thanks  to  the  prescient  leadership  which  had  kept  Massachu- 
setts alive  to  the  impending  danger,  she  was  ready  to  meet  it  when 
it  came.  The  excitement,  with  the  news  of  the  obnoxious  acts  of 
Parliament,  spread  inward  from  the  capital,  and  everywhere  roused 
the  same  spirit  of  indignation  and  determined  resistance.  In  every 
direction,  nothing  was  heard  of  but  meetings  and  patriotic  resolu- 
tions. May  12,  —  two  days  after  the  publication  of  the  Port-bill, 
—  the  delegates  of  eight  neighboring  towns,  summoned  by  the  Bos- 
ton committee,  met  at  the  selectmen's  room  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and 
adopted  spirited  measures  to  unite  the  colonies  in  defence  of  the 
common  liberties ;  l  and  it  was,  perhaps,  to  a  missive  sent  out  by 
this  little  assemblage,  that  the  petition  for  the  first  Pittsfield  town- 
meeting  held  in  this  emergency  alludes.  The  petition,  however, 
was  dated  on  the  24th  of  June ;  and,  early  in  that  mouth,  rough 
drafts  of  the  regulating  acts,  and  news  of  their  probable  passage, 
were  received  by  the  Boston  committee,  and  dispersed  over  the 
country  with  so  good  effect,  that,  on  the  20th,  "  The  Boston  Ga- 
zette "  was  able  to  pronounce  "  the  aspect  of  affairs  highly  favor- 
able to  American  liberties"  .  .  .  "the  whole  continent  seeming 
inspired  by  one  soul,  and  that  a  rigorous  and  determined  one."  2 
It  was  due  partly  to  its  I'emoteness  from  the  capital,  and  partly, 
doubtless,  to  the  still  potent  Tory  influence,  that  Pittsfield  manifest- 
ed a  dilatory  spirit  that  never  again  appeared  in  her  patriotic  coun- 
cils. But,  on  the  24th,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  selectmen, 
requesting  them  to  convene  a  town-meeting,  "  to  act  and  do  what 
the  town  think  proper  respecting  the  circular  letter  sent  out  by  the 
town  of  Boston  and  other  towns  in  this  Province;  and  such  other 
matters  as  the  town  shall  think  proper  in  regard  to  the  invaded 
liberties  and  privileges  of  this  country." 

This  petition  was  signed  by  James  Easton,  John  Strong,  Ezekiel 
Root,  Oliver  Root,  Timothy  Childs,  John  Brown,  Matthew  Wright, 
David  Noble,  Daniel  Weller,  and  James  Noble ;  and  the  select- 
men to  whom  it  was  addressed  were  David  Bush,  William  Francis, 
Dan  Cadwell,  Eli  Root,  and  Israel  Dickinson.  The  warrant  for 
a  town-meeting  on  Thursday,  the  30th  of  June,  was  signed  by  all 
the  selectmen  except  Cadwell;8  and  it  was  accordingly  held, 
Josiah  Wright  presiding  as  moderator. 

1  Frothingham's  Life  of  Warren,  p.  301. 

2  Frothingham's  Warren,  p.  333. 

8  David  Bush  had  scruples  as  to  taking  up  arms  against  the  king,  to  whom  he 
had,  as  a  militia  captain,  sworn  allegiance ;  hot  he  acted,  generally,  with  the 


190  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  first  action  taken  was  to  appoint  "  a  standing  committee  to 
correspond  with  the  correspondent  committees  of  this  and  other 
Provinces;"  and  it  was  thus  constituted:  Rev.  Thomas  Allen, 
Deacon  James  Easton,  Mr.  John  Brown,  Deacon  Josiah  Wright, 
Mr.  John  Strong,  Capt.  David  Bush,  Lieut.  David  Noble. 

The  meeting  then  adopted  the  "Worcester  Covenant,"  —  the 
most  stringent  form  of  the  solemn  league  and  covenant,  by 
which  individuals  bound  themselves,  and  towns  their  citizens,  not 
to  purchase  or  use  any  goods,  the  production  of  Great  Britain  or 
her  West-Indian  Colonies,  or  which  had  been  imported  through 
her  companies  trading  to  the  East ;  and,  generally,  agreed  to  act 
together  in  resisting  the  aggressions  of  the  mother  country.  Dea. 
James  Easton,  John  Brown,  and  John  Strong  were  chosen  dele- 
gates to  a  county  congress,1  to  be  held  at  Stockbridge,  on  the 
sixth  of  July  ;  and  the  meeting  adjourned  to  the  llth,  to  await  their 
action,  but  hot  without  first  resolving  to  keep  the  14th  as  a  day  of 
solemn  fasting  and  prayer. 

Col.  John  Ashley  of  Sheffield  presided  in  the  congress  at  Stock- 
bridge  ;  and  Theodore  Sedgwick,  then  a  young  lawyer  of  the  same 
town,  was  clerk. 

Thomas  Williams  of  Stockbridge,  Peter  Curtis  of  Lanesborough, 
John  Brown  of  Pittsfield,  Mark  Hopkins  of  Great  Barrington,  and 
Theodore  Sedgwick,  were  appointed  to  consider  the  obnoxious 
acts  of  Parliament,  and  "  report  their  sense  of  them."  Whatever 
their  report  was,  —  and  it  was  certainly  patriotic,  —  it  was  unani- 
mously adopted. 

Whigs,  and  once  or  twice  took  the  field,  in  cases  of  alarm.  Dan  Cadwell  was 
a  loyalist  of  the  better  sort,  and  seems  not  to  have  lost  the  esteem  of  the  people, 
who  elected  him  to  town-offices,  and  once  to  the  Committee  of  Safety,  during  the 
war.  The  case  of  Ezekiel  Root  is  a  singular  one.  He  was  a  very  pronounced 
Tory  in  his  conversation,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  name  his  children  for  the 
British  commanders ;  but  all  his  recorded  acts  are  on  the  Whig  side,  as  in  signing 
the  above  petition,  in  serving  on  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  in  volunteering  for 
Bennington  and  other  fields.  He  was  often  elected  to  important  town-offices,  and 
once  at  least  by  the  extreme  radicals  to  represent  them  in  county  congress.  In- 
deed, although  both  Mr.  Cadwell  and  Capt.  Root  were  sometimes  disciplined  for  a 
too  loud  expression  of  their  Toryism,  —  to  the  offence  of  sensitively  patriotic  ears, 
—  it  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by  the  community  as  the  eccentricity  of  worthy 
men,  which  would  never  stand  seriously  in  the  way  of  their  duty.  They  certainly 
never  lost  the  good  will  of  a  people  who  were  not  famed  for  charity  towards 
political  opponents. 

1  Assemblies  of  town  delegates  were  then  styled  indifferently  congresses,  con- 
ventions, or  committee^ 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  191 

The  following  delegates  were  appointed  to  draft  "  an  agreement 
to  be  recommended  to  the  towns  of  the  county  for  the  non-con- 
sumption of  British  manufactures  :  "  Timothy  Edwards,  Esq.,  of 
Stockbridge,  Dr.  William  Whiting  of  Great  Barrington,  Dr. 
Lemuel  Barnard  of  Sheffield,  Dr.  Erastus  Sergeant  of  Stockbridge, 
and  Deacon  James  Easton.  And  they  reported  the  subjoined 
league  and  covenant,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  "  paragraph 
by  paragraph." 

LEAGUE    AND    COVENANT. 

WHEREAS  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  have,  of  late,  undertaken  to 
give  and  grant  away  our  money  without  our  knowledge  or  consent ;  and,  in 
order  to  compel  us  to  a  servile  submission  to  the  above  measures,  have 
proceeded  to  block  up  the  harbor  of  Boston ;  also  have,  or  are  about  to 
vacate  the  charter,  and  repeal  certain  laws  of  this  Province  heretofore 
enacted  by  the  General  Court  and  confirmed  to  us  by  the  King  and  his 
predecessors  :  therefore,  as  a  means  to  obtain  a  speedy  redress  of  the  above 
grievances,  we  do  solemnly  and  in  good  faith  covenant  and  -engage  with  each 
other :  — 

1st,  That  we  will  not  import,  purchase,  or  consume,  or  suffer  any  person 
for,  by,  or  under  us,  to  import,  purchase,  or  consume,  in  any  manner  what- 
ever, any  goods,  wares,  or  manufactures  which  shall  arrive  in  America  from 
Great  Britain  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  October  next,  or  such  other 
time  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  American  Congress ;  nor  any  goods 
which  shall  be  ordered  from  thence  from  and  after  this  day  until  our  charter 
and  constitutional  rights  shall  be  restored,  or  until  it  shall  be  determined 
by  the  major  part  of  our  brethren  in  this  and  the  neighboring  Colonies,  that 
a  non-importation  or  non-consumption  agreement  will  not  have,  a  tendency 
to  effect  the  desired  end,  and  until  it  shall  be  apparent  that  a  non-importation 
or  non-consumption  agreement  will  not  be  entered  into  by  the  majority  of 
this  and  the  neighboring  Colonies  —  except  such  articles  as  the  said  General 
Congress  of  North  America  shall  advise  to  import  and  consume. 

2d,  We  do  further  covenant  and  agree,  that  we  will  observe  the  most 
strict  obedience  to  all  constitutional  laws  and  authority,  and  will  at  all  times 
exert  ourselves  to  the  utmost  for  the  discouragement  of  all  licentiousness, 
and  suppressing  all  disorderly  mobs  and  riots. 

3d,  We  will  exert  ourselves,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  in  promoting  peace,  love, 
and  unanimity  among  each  other ;  and,  for  that  end,  we  engage  to  avoid  all 
unnecessary  lawsuits  whatever. 

4th,  As  a  strict  and  proper  adherence  to  the  non-importation  and  non- 
consumption  agreement  will,  if  not  seasonably  provided  against,  involve  us 
in  many  difficulties  and  inconveniences,  we  do  promise  and  agree,  that  we  will 
take  the  most  prudent  care  for  the  raising  of  sheep,  and  for  the  manufactur- 


192  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ing  all  such  cloths  as  shall  be  most  useful  and  necessary ;  and  also  for  the 
raising  of  flax,  and  the  manufacturing  of  linen ;  further,  that  we  will  by 
every  prudent  method  endeavor  to  guard  against  all  those  inconveniences 
which  might  otherwise  arise  from  the  foregoing  agreement. 

5th,  That  if  any  person  shall  refuse  to  sign  this,  or  a  similar  covenant,  or, 
after  having  signed  it,  shall  not  adhere  to  the  real  intent  and  meaning  thereof, 
he  or  they  shall  be  treated  by  us  with  all  the  neglect  they  shall  justly 
deserve,  particularly  by  omitting  all  commercial  dealings  with  them. 

6th,  That  if  this,  or  a  similar  covenant,  shall,  after  the  first  day  of  August 
next,  be  offered  to  any  trader  or  shop-keeper  in  this  county,  and  he  or  they 
shall  refuse  to  sign  the  same  for  the  space  of  forty-eight  hours,  that  we  will 
from  thenceforth  purchase  no  article  of  British  manufacture  or  East-India 
goods  from  him  or  them  until  such  time  as  he  or  they  shall  sign  this  or  a 
similar  covenant. 

It  was  further  resolved  that  the  delegates  should  severally  rec- 
ommend the  distressed  circumstances  of  the  poor  of  Cbarlestown 
and  Boston  to  the  charity  of  their  constituents,  and  that  their 
contributions  should  be  "  remitted  in  the  fall  in  fat  cattle." 

Pittsfield,  at  its  adjourned  meeting,  voted  that  "the  county 
covenant  should  be  esteemed  similar  to  the  Worcester." 

The  record  of  its  donations  "in  fat  cattle"  is  not  preserved;  but 
in  the  town-archives  is  the  following  receipt :  — 

BOSTON,  Nov.  30,  1774. 

Received  from  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  by  the  hand  of  James  Easton  (in 
cash)  a  donation  of  six  pounds,  twelve  shillings,  lawful  money,  for  the  relief 
and  support  of  the  poor  sufferers  in  the  town  of  Boston,  by  means  of  the 
Boston  Port-bill. 

By  order  and  in  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  Donations. 
£6, 12,  0.  ALEX.  HOGSDEN,  Clerk.1 

The  meeting  of  the  llth  had  a  peculiar  termination ;  being 
"  dissolved,  except  in  reference  to  the  general  Congress,"  but,  as 
to  that,  adjourned  to  the  third  Monday  in  October.  The  first 
Continental  Congress  was  to  meet  on  the  first  of  September;  and 
the  people,  looking  eagerly  to  its  wisdom  for -guidance,  feared  that 
in  the  interval  the  new  laws  would  take  effect  to  prevent  the  call- 
ing of  a  new  meeting  to  consider  its  advice.  The  omnipotence  of 

1  This  donation  was  also  acknowledged  in  "  The  Boston  Gazette,"  Dec.  5,  and 
with  it  a  private  contribution  of  twelve  shillings  from  Deacon  Easton. 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  193 

Parliament  was  fairly  matched  by  the  vitality  of  an  adjourned 
town-meeting.  That  any  thing,  calling  itself  law,  could  intervene 
to  prevent  their  re-assembling  with  unimpaired  powers  under  a  fair 
and  regular  adjournment,  was  beyond  the  comprehension  of  New- 
England  townsmen. 

But  events  crowded  responsibilities  upon  Massachusetts  patriots 
that  would  not  wait  the  advice  of  Continental  wisdom.  The 
Regulating  Act,  and  that  "  for  the  more  impartial  administration 
of  justice,"  —  bitterly  nick-named  "  The  Murder  Act,"  —  were, 
early  in  August,  known  to  have  received  the  royal  signature,  and 
their  promulgation  was  daily  expected.1 

Popular  resistance  to  the  organization  of  the  courts  under  the 
new  acts  was  threatened  in  many  counties.  Worcester  was 
ablaze  ;  and  "  a  flame  sprang  up  at  the  extremity  of  the  Province" 
which  Gov.  Gage  attributed  to  the  machinations  of  the  Bos- 
ton committee,  and  especially  to  a  letter,  a  copy  of  which  fell 
into  his  hands.  "The  popular  rage,"  wrote  his  Excellency 
immediately  after  the  events  we  are  about  to  relate,  "is  very 
high  in  Berkshire,  and  makes  its  way  rapidly  to  the  rest."  2 

"  And  all,"  thought  the  bewildered  governor,  "  from  that  pesti- 
lent Boston  clique"!  As  though  the  spark  were  more  essential  to  the 
flame  than  the  fuel,  or  kindled  that  which  was  not  prepared  f(fr  it. 

It  was  true,  however,  that  the  patriotic  rage  of  Berkshire  was 
fed  by  the  advice  and  appeals  sent  abroad  by  the  same  men  who, 
at  Boston,  were  troublesome  to  Gage  and  his  master.  It  is  true, 
too,  that  the  people  "  at  the  extremity  of  the  Province,"  intending 
to  act  in  co-operation  with  their  brethren  at  the  east,  placed  them- 
selves, as  far  as  it  was  necessary  for  that  purpose,  under  the  same 
great  and  wise  leadership.  At  this  particular  juncture,  we  have 
their  own  authority  for  saying  that  they  "  acted  in  conformity  with 
the  advice  of  the  wisest  men  in  the  Colony."8  And  it  adds  to, 
rather  than  diminishes,  the  glory  of  the  Berkshire  fathers,  that, 
w'hen  unity  was  essential  to  success,  the  step  taken  by  them,  in 
advance  of  the  other  counties,  was  part  of  the  great  plan  by  which 
zeal  tempered  with  discretion  made  up  the  issues  of  the  Revolution. 

The  first  County  Court  to  be  held  in  the  Province,  after  the 

1  They  were  officially  received  by  Gov.  Gage  on  the  6th,  but,  for  prudential 
reasons,  not  immediately  proclaimed. 

2  Letter  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  Am.  Ar.,  Ser.  4,  vol.  i.  p.  742. 
8  County  memorial  drafted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Allen. 

13 


194  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

reception  of  the  acts  of  Parliament  for  perverting  the  charter,  was 
that  appointed  for  the  third  Tuesday  in  August,  at  Great  Barring- 
ton  ;  and  a  county  convention,  held  at  Pittsfield  on  the  fourth 
of  that  month,  probably  took  measures  for  its  obstruction. 

Whatever  the  recommendations  of  the  convention  were,  the 
town  of  Pittsfield,  being  called  together  for  that  purpose  on  the 
15th,  promptly  accepted  them ;  and  then  proceeded  to  choose  Capt. 
Charles  Goodrich,  William  Francis,  and  the  moderator,  Deacon 
Josiah  Wright,  —  three  of  the  most  stout-hearted,  as  well  as  the 
most  substantial  citizens,  —  "  to  prefer  a  petition  to  the  Honorable 
Court  not  to  transact  any  business  the  present  term." 

Dr.  Tim.  Childs  and  Mr.  John  Strong  were  appointed  to 
draw  up  the  petition ;  and  soon  reported  the  following,  which  was 
adopted. 

To  the  Honorable  His  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  the  County  of  Berkshire :  The  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of 
the  Town  of  Pittsfield,  assembled  in  Town-meeting  on  Monday  the  fif- 
teenth day  of  August,  1774  :  — 

HUMBLY  SHEWETH, 

That  whereas  two  late  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  for  superseding  the 
charter*  of  this  Province,  and  vacating  some  of  the  principles  and  invalu- 
able privileges  and  franchises  therein  contained,  have  passed  the-  royal 
assent,  and  have  been  published  in  the  Boston  paper,  that  our  obedience  be 
yielded  to  them. 

We  view  it  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  well-being  of  this  Province, 
that  the  people  of  it  utterly  refuse  the  least  submission  to  the  s'aid  acts,  and 
on  no  consideration  to  yield  obedience  to  them ;  or  directly  or  indirectly 
to  countenance  the  taking  place  of  those  acts  amongst  us,  but  resist  them  to 
the  last  extremity. 

In  order  in  the  safest  manner  to  avoid  this  threatening  calamity,  it  is,  in 
our  opinion,  highly  necessary  that  no  business  be  transacted  in  tbe  law,  but 
that  the  courts  of  justice  immediately  cease,  and  the  people  of  this  Province 
fall  into  a  state  of  nature  until  our  grievances  are  fully  redressed  by  a  final 
repeal  of  these  injurious,  oppressive,  and  unconstitutional  acts.  We  have 
the  pleasure  to  find  that  this  is  the  sentiment  of  the  greater  part  of  the  peo- 
ple of  this  Province ;  and  we  are  persuaded  that  no  man  that  only  under- 
stands the  state  of  our  public  affairs,  who  lias  business  at  the  approaching 
term,  but  will  advise  and  consent  to  the  same,  and  willingly  undergo  personal 
inconvenience  for  the  public  good.  We  do  therefore  remonstrate  against 
the  holding  any  courts  in  this  county  until  those  acts  shall  be  repealed ;  and 
we  hope  that  your  honors  will  not  be  of  a  different  opinion  from  the  good 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSF1ELD.  195 

people  in  this  county.     Our  reasons  for  holding  no  courts  in  the  present 
situation  of  affairs,  are  as  follows :  — 

Some  reasons  why  our  Inferior  Court  cannot  be  held  in  its  ancient  form, 
and  agreeable  to  charter,  now  the  new  acts  are  published  :  — 

1st.  If  they  are  now  held  in  the  ancient  form,  this  will  be  in  direct  violation 
of  those  laws,  and  in  defiance  of  them. 

2d.  Whatever  business  shall  be  transacted  in  the  ancient  form,  now  those 
laws  are  in  force,  will  be  illegal,  and  liable  afterwards  to  be  wholly  set 
aside. 

3d.  The  honorable  judges  will  expose  themselves,  by  not  submitting  to 
the  new  acts,  by  transacting  business  in  the  old  form,  or  agreeable  to  our 
charter,  to  an  immediate  loss  of  their  commissions. 

4th.  It  will  be  much  greater  contempt  of  those  laws  to  transact  business  in 
the  ancient  form,  or  agreeable  to  our  charter,  than  to  do  none  at  all. 

5th.  This  course  of  procedure  will  tend  to  bring  matters  to  a  more  un- 
happy crisis,  which  we  would  choose  by  all  means  to  avoid,  than  to  neglect 
to  do  any  business. 

6th.  The  new  acts  will  insensibly  steal  in  upon  us  under  pretence  of  doing 
business  after  the  ancient  Constitution  :  therefore,  as  soon  as  the  new  acts  are 
in  whole  or  in  part  in  force,  as  they  now  are,  no  court  ought  to  be  held  in  the 
ancient  form. 

Our  reasons  why  our  Inferior  Courts  ought  not  to  be  held  at  the  approach- 
ing term  are  as  follows  :  — 

1st.  We  have  undoubted  intelligence  from  York  and  Boston  that  the  said 
acts  have  passed  the  royal  assent. 

2d.  We  also  are  informed  of  their  arrival  in  Boston. 

3d.  It  is  highly  probable  they  are  published  in  form  by  the  governor  by 
this  present  time  in  order  that  our  obedience  be  rendered  to  them. 

4th.  We  ought  to  bear  the  most  early  testimony  against  those  acts,  and  set 
a  good  example  for  the  other  part  of  the  Province  to  copy  after. 

5th.  Some  parts  of  those  acts  have  taken  place  already,  —  that  part  of 
which  dissolves  the  council  by  whose  advice  the  former  commissions  were 
granted  out;  and  that  part  of  which  empowers  the  governor  to  grant  new 
commissions  without  advice  of  the  council ;  and  also  that  which  respects 
town-meetings.  For  these  and  other  reasons,  it  plainly  appears  to  be  of 
dangerous  consequences  to  do  any  business  in  the  law  till  the  repeal  of 
those  acts,  as  would  most  certainly  imply  some  degree  of  submission  to 
them,  the  least  appearance  of  which  ought  not  to  be  admitted. 

The  honor  of  the  Court  has  good  grounds  to  neglect  to  do  business  in  the 
law,  and  the  people  just  occasion  to  petition  for  it,  and  insist  upon  it  without 
admitting  a  refusal." 

A  somewhat  larger  deputation  than  the  action  of  the  town  con- 
templated waited  upon  the  Court.  At  the  time  appointed  for  it 


196  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

to  sit,  about  fifteen  hundred  men  assembled,  unarmed,  at  Great 
Barrington,  and  "  filled  the  Court  House,  and  the  avenues  to  the 
seats  of  justice,  so  full  that  no  passage  could  be  found  for  the 
judges."  "  The  sheriff  commanded  the  people  to  make  way  for 
the  Court ;  but  they  gave  him  to  understand,  that  they  knew  no 
Court,  or  any  other  establishment  than  the  ancient  laws  and  cus- 
toms of  the  country ;  and  to  none  other  would  they  give  way  on 
any  terms."  1 

They  were  assured  that  the  new  acts  had  not  arrived,  and  that* 
consequently,  business  would  proceed  in  the  usual  manner :  but 
everybody  knew  that  the  judges'  commissions  were  already  revo- 
cable at  the  governor's  pleasure;  and  that  the  aggressive  laws  — 
likely  to  reach  Great  Barrington  at  any  moment  —  might  be  pro- 
claimed as  soon  as  the  Court  was  well  benched.  The  assemblage 
therefore  insisting  that  the  judges  should  forthwith  quit  the  town, 
they  complied,  lest  worse  might  befall  them  ; 2  and  no  Court  ever 
again  attempted  to  sit,  under  royal  commission,  in  Berkshire. 
The  last  which  actually  transacted  business  in  the  king's  name 
was  the  May  term  at  Great  Barrington  in  1774. 

About  three  hundred  of  the  assembled  people  were  from  Litch- 
field  County,  Conn. ;  and  these,  upon  their  return,  took  with  them 
David  Ingersol,  Esq.,  a  particularly  obnoxious  Great-Barrington 
Tory,  and  a  magistrate  of  the  General  Sessions.  For  this  they 
were  arraigned  by  a  Connecticut  sheriff  before  "the  Honorable 
Eliphalet  Dyer,  Esq.,  who,  with  great  solemnity  and  severity,  rep- 
rimanded the  delinquents,"  and  bound  them  over  to  the  court 
above ;  by  which  their  case  was  continued  until  the  offenders  and 
their  prosecutors  changed  places.  David  Ingersol,  Esq.,  went,  the 
next  fall,  to  England  as  a  refugee.  Col.  Williams  of  Pittsfield 
was  the  chief-justice  of  the  obstructed  Court  of  Common  Pleas; 
and,  although  he  was  fond  enough  of  his  place,  was  not  likely  to 
very  strenuously  resist  the  will  of  the  people,  energetically  ex- 
pressed. Major  Stoddard,  a  man  of  a  different  stamp,  was  a 
magistrate  of  the  General  Sessions:  but  any  opposition  to  so 
determined  a  multitude  as  surrounded  the  Court  House,  further 
than  a  manly  remonstrance,  would  have  been  folly ;  and  even 
that  involved  greater  risk  than  it  was  worth,  unless  the  whole 

1  Massachusetts  Gazette  and  Newsletter,  Sept.  1,  1774. 

2  Great-Barrington  Letter,  Sept.  18, 1774. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  197 

magistracy  had  joined  it,  as  there  was  no  likelihood  of  their 
doing. 

The  proceedings  against  the  perverted  courts  worked  grandly 
for  the  patriotic  cause.  Everywhere  throughout  Berkshire  the 
Revolutionary  feeling  was  roused  and  united  in  action  as  it  could 
have  been  in  no  other  way  so  effectually.  The  great  object  of 
committing  the  western  frontier  of  the  Province,  devotedly  and 
enthusiastically,  to  the  cause  of  liberty  was  at  once  and  perfectly 
accomplished,  in  spite  of  obstacles  which  would  have  interposed 
a  dangerous  delay  to  any  less  vehement  advance.  The  beneficial 
effects  of  the  achievement  were  manifest  from  the  very  opening  of 
the  war  to  its  close. 

Elsewhere  the  patriotic  spirit  was  braced  with  new  vigor,  as  the 
news  spread  that  the  usurpations  of  Parliament  had,  on  the  first 
suspicion  of  an  attempt  to  enforce  them,  met  a  bold,  and,  for  the 
time  at  least,  successful  resistance.  The  example  proved  conta- 
gious, and  was  held  up  for  imitation  even  in  Boston.1  At  Spring- 
field, at  the  assembling  of  the  courts  on  the  30th  of  August,  the 
Justices,  with  Israel  Williams,  the  chief  of  the  Tories,  at  their 
head,  in  the  presence  of  three  thousand  persons,  "very  willingly" 
signed  a  solemn  agreement  not  to  accept  or  exercise  any  office  or 
commission  "  under  or  by  virtue  of,  or  in  any  degree  derived  from, 
any  authority  pretended  or  attempted  to  be  given  by  the  late  acts 
of  Parliament."  Everywhere,  where  the  courts  were  not  sur- 
rounded by  British  troops,  the  story  was  the  same.  The  counties 
which  had  stood  ready  to  set  the  example,  if  the  privilege  had 
fallen  to  them,  were  no  less  prompt  to  follow  it  when  set  by  the 
youngest  of  their  sisterhood.  In  Suffolk,  where  the  courts  sat 
under  the  protection  of  the  soldiery,  the  jurors  found  means  hardly 
less  effectual,  and  even  more  annoying,  to  thwart  the  "taking 
place  "  of  the  dangerous  innovations.  The  movement  initiated  in 
Berkshire  spread,  in  some  form,  throughout  the  Province;  and 
although  it  can  by  no  means  be  claimed  that  this  initiation  and 
that  adoption  of  the  movement  were  strictly  cause  and  effect,  the 
relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  was  sufficiently  close  to  justify 
the  traditional  county  pride  in  "the  first  obstruction  of  King 
George's  Courts." 

The  Pittsfield  records  of  town-meetings,  as    transcribed   after 

1  Frothingham's  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  10. 


198  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  erasures  of  the  inspecting  committees,  afford  no  intimation 
of  any  opposition  to  the  Revolutionary  measures  which  prevailed ; 
but  a  few  minutes,  chance-preserved  in  the  archives,  show  that 
the  struggle  was,  nevertheless,  violent,  and  the  debates  which 
arose  personal  and  acrimonious.  The  most  suggestive  of  these 
papers  is  one  containing  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
"  passed  in  full,"  probably  at  the  meeting  of  the  15th  of  August :  — 

"  Whereas  [the  name  of  Col.  Wm.  Williams  was  here  inserted  but 
erased]  Major  Israel  Stoddard,  and  Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  have  exhibited 
several  charges  against  the  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  thereby  endeavoring  to 
injure  his  reputation,  in  respect  to  what  he  said  and  did  in  a  late  town- 
meeting,  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people ;  wherein  they 
charge  the  said  Thomas  with  rebellion,  treason,  and  sedition,  and  cast  many 
other  infamous  aspersions,  tending  to  endanger  not  only  the  reputation,  but 
the  life  of  the  said  Thomas,  — 

Voted,  That  all  the  foregoing  charges  are  groundless,  false,  and  scandalous ; 
and  that  the  said  Thomas  is  justifiable  in  all  things  wherein  he  hath  been 
charged  with  the  crimes  aforesaid ;  and  that  he  hath  merited  the  thanks  of 
this  town  in  every  thing  wherein  he  hath  undertaken  to  defend  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  people  in  this  Province,  and  particularly  in  his  obser- 
vations and  animadversions  on  the  Worcester  Covenant." 

This  paper  is  indorsed  "  To  Col.  Williams  and  others,  —  to  lie 
on  file : "  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  erasure  of  Col. 
Williams's  name  from  the  resolutions  was  made  subsequently  to 
their  passage. 

Some  months  later,  in  November,  the  town,  through  its 
clerk,  Israel  Dickinson,  addressed  a  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Collins,  the 
loyalist  minister  of  Lanesborough,  stating  that,  it  having  been 
suggested  in  public  town-meeting  that  he  had  at  divers  times, 
when  in  Pittsfield,  "  censured  and  disapproved  their  reverend 
pastor,  Mr.  Allen,  in  regard  to  his  conduct  in  some  public  matters 
of  late,"  which,  whatever  Mr.  Collins's  intention  may  have  been, 
seemed  to  them  to  have  a  tendency  to  promote,  rather  than  settle, 
the  differences  arising  therefrom,  they  requested  him  to  desist  from 
that  sort  of  comment  in  the  future. 

Mr.  Collins  replied  with  spirit,  denying  that  he  had  done  more 
than  give  it  as  his  opinion,  and  his  reasons  for  it,  "  that  it  would  be 
well  for  gospel  ministers,  in  their  public  discourses,  to  avoid  enter- 
ing very  far  into  a  consideration  of  state  policy ; "  and  he  hoped  the 
tow,n  of  Pittsfield  would  not  be  offended  if  he  held  himself  at 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  199 

liberty  to  defend  that  proposition  whenever  occasion  arose.  The 
belief  in  the  intimate  relations  between  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
which,  in  Mr.  Allen's  opinion,  identified  the  safety  of  the  one  with 
the  jealous  defence  of  the  other,  has  already  been  stated ;  and  the 
papers  above  quoted  are  introduced  merely  to  show  the  influence 
attributed  to  the  first  pastor  of  the  town  in  moulding  its  patriotic 
sentiment  and  action,  as  well  as  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
by  his  associates  of  the  popular  party. 

What  was  the  exact  nature  and  amount  of  the  counsel  and  in- 
spiration which  the  Pittsfield  Whigs  received  from  the  East  is  un- 
certain ;  but,  after  the  occurrences  of  August,  influences  from 
abroad  were  more  needed  to  restrain  than  to  incite. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Allen's  large  official  correspondence  with  the 
committees  of  other  towns  in  Massachusetts  as  well  as  the  neigh- 
boring colonies,  his  interchange  of  letters  was  frequent  with  his 
personal  friends,  and  particularly  with  Major  Hawley  and  Col. 
Seth  Pomeroy  of  Northampton.1  John  Brown  also,  after  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Provincial  Congress,  was  in  confidential  communication 
with  Warren,  Sara.  Adams,  and  others  of  like  position. 

Oliver  Wendell,  son  of  Col.  Jacob,  the  early  proprietor  of 
Poontoosuck,  although  a  very  young  man,  attaining  his  majority 
about  this  time,  was  one  of  the  most  glowing  and  impetuous  of 
the  Sons  of  Liberty,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Safety  in  Boston.  His  family,  who  still  retained  considerable 
estate  in  Pittsfield,  were  liked  by  the  people  for  their  genial,  free- 
hearted, ungrasping  disposition ;  and  it  would  have  been  singular 
if  the  young  and  active  cornmitteeman  had  not  turned  his  popu- 
larity to  account  in  winning  support  to  the  cause  which  he  had  at 
heart.  The  evidence  that  he  did  so,  although  strong,  is,  however, 
only  traditional.'2 

1  Col.  Seth  Pomeroy,  grandfather  of  the  late  Lemuel  Pomeroy  of  Pittsfield,  was 
a  gallant  officer  in  the  last  French  and  Indian  War,  and,  early  in  the  troubles  with 
Great  Britain,  took  rank  with  the  foremost  of  the  patriots.  He  was  one  of  the 
four  brigadiers  appointed  by  the  first  Provincial  Congress,  of  which  he  was  an 
influential  member;  but  declined  that  rank,  and  fought  at  Bunker  Hill  —  like 
Warren,  who  had  been  voted  a  similar  commission  —  as  a  volunteer.  He  after- 
wards served  as  colonel  until  1777,  when  he  died  in  command  of  the  post  at  Peeks- 
ki'l.  "  A  good  friend  of  his  country,"  is  the  epitaph  that  Mr.  Allen  inscribed  in 
his  pocket  diary  upon  receiving  the  news  of  his  friend's  death. 

*  Among  the  traditions  in  this  connection  is  one,  that  Oliver  Wendell,  then 
owning  the  farm  on  Wendell  Street  where  his  grandson,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes, 


200  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

afterwards  built  his  villa,  leased  it  to  a  tenant  for  a  moderate  rent,  on  condition 
that  if  Gen.  Gage  should,  as  he  threatened,  make  Boston  too  hot  for  men  of  the 
Wendell  stamp,  the  premises  should  at  once  be  surrendered,  with  the  furniture, 
standing  crops,  etc.  The  tradition  is  probably  not  accurate  in  all  its  particulars ; 
and  a  more  consistent  version  of  it  would  be,  that  Mr.  Wendell  placed  a  tenant  in 
his  farmhouse,  who  would  receive  him  in  the  anticipated  emergency :  for  it  is 
averred  with  great  positiveness,  that,  from  the  arrangement  then  made,  arose  the 
custom  in  the  Wendell  family  of  an  annual  summer  pilgrimage  to  Pittsfield. 

Some  of  the  older  inhabitants  of  the  place  still  remember  the  visits  of  Judge 
Wendell,  who,  whatever  he  may  have  done  before,  for  many  years  after  the  Kevo- 
lution  exercised  a  potent  social  and  political  influence  in  Berkshire,  as  will  appear 
in  the  consideration  of  that  era.  His  epicurean  tastes  excited  the  admiration  of 
his  rural  neighbors  ;  but  his  keen  relish  for  the  country  luxuries,  and  the  simple 
although  skilful  cuisine  of  good  Mrs.  Backus,  who  marshalled  the  affairs  of  the 
Judge's  farmhouse,  showed  an  unperverted  palate.  His  nice  sense,  however,  re- 
volted at  the  barbarism  of  country  taverns,  where  fowls  were  served  up  before  the 
life  had  been  an  hour  out  of  their  bodies.  And  so,  when  he  set  out  upon  his 
leisurely  journeys  of  four  or  five  days  between  Boston  and  Pittsfield,  a  freshly- 
killed  chicken  was  placed  under  the  seat  of  his  carriage ;  which,  at  the  end  of 
twenty-four  hours,  was  delivered  to  the  cook  of  the  wayside  inn,  and  another 
substituted  to  undergo  a  like  seasoning.  A  wholesome  good  liver  was  Judge 
Oliver  Wendell. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

A  SEASON  OF    PREPARATION. 
[SEPTEMBER,  I774-MAY,  1775.] 

John  Brown  elected  to  the  Provincial  Congress.  —  Pittsfield  adopts  Congressional 
Advice.  —  Adopts  the  Articles  of  Association.  —  Revolutionary  Committees. — 
Pittsfield  Militia.  —  Generous  Patriotism  of  Capt.  Noble.  —  The  Minute-Men.  — 
Spinning-Matches  and  Clothing-Bees. — News  of  Lexington  Fight.  —  March 
of  the  Minute-Men.  —  Changes  in  Capt.  Noble's  Company.  —  Proceedings 
against  the  Tories.  — Patriotic  Labors  of  Kev.  Mr.  Allen. 

IV  /TASSACHUSETTS,  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1774-5,  was 
-L-VJL  busy  with  preparation  for  the  impending  conflict.  Gov. 
Gage  issued  his  precept  for  a  General  Court,  to  be  held  at 
Salem  on  the  5th  of  October.  The  committee  of  Worcester  sug- 
gested an  assembly  of  the  towns,  by  their  delegates,  in  Provincial 
Congress ;  and  the  Suffolk  Convention  fixed  upon  Concord  as  the 
place,  and  the  llth  of  October  as  the  time,  for  the  meeting. 

Pittsfield,  like  many  other  places,  refused  to  send  a  representative 
to  Salem ;  but  chose  John  Brown  delegate  to  the  congress,  and 
appointed,  as  committee  of  instruction,  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich, 
Deacon  Josiah  Wright,  Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  Deacon  James  Easton, 
and  Lieut.  Eli  Root. 

Gage,  angered  and  alarmed  at  the  spirited  attitude  of  the  towns, 
revoked  his  precept  of  assembly,  and  announced  that  he  would 
not  meet  the  representatives.  Ninety  of  them  were,  however, 
present  in  Salem  at  the  appointed  time;  and  having,  with 
studious  regard  to  etiquette,  waited  all  that  day  for  his  Excellency 
to  appear,  resolved  themselves  into  a  Provincial  Congress,  "  to  be 
joined  by  such  other  persons  as  had  been,  or  should  be,  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  to  take  into  consideration  the  dangerous  and 

201 


202  HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

alarming  situation  of  public  affairs  in  the  Province,  and  to  con- 
sult upon  measures  to  promote  the  true  interest  of  his  Majesty,  and 
the  peace,  welfare,  and  prosperity  of  the  Province." 

After  a  consultation  of  two  days,  the  congress  issued  an  address, 
advising  its  constituents  of  the  "  unconstitutional,  unjust,  disrespect- 
ful, and  hostile  conduct,"  by  which  the  governor  had  deprived  the 
Province  of  its  accustomed  legislature  ;  and  adjourned  to  merge 
itself  in  the  assembly,  which  was,  by  the  will  of  the  people,  con- 
vened at  Concord  on  the  following  Tuesday. 

In  the  latter  body,  John  Brown  took  his  seat  as  representative 
from  Pittsfield.  It  did  not  assume  to  enact  laws :  but  its  advice, 
given  to  towns,  committees,  and  the  people  at  large,  was  respected 
as  statutes  rarely  are ;  and  no  town  responded  to  these  counsels 
with  more  zeal  and  promptitude  than  Pittsfield. 

Thus  the  congress  having  advised  that  the  Province  tax  should 
be  paid  over,  not  to  Harrison  Gray,  the  governor's  treasurer,  but  to 
Henry  Gardener,  whom  it  elected  receiver-general,  Pittsfield,  at  its 
next  meeting,  so  instructed  its  collectors ;  and  in  the  spring,  some  of 
the  loyalists  disputing  Mr.  Gardener's  warrant,  the  town  directed 
its  officers,  if  any  man  refused  to  pay  his  rates,  to  apply  for  aid  to 
the  Committee  of  Inspection,  who  had  a  happy  knack  of  enforcing 
congressional  advice. 

The  Continental  Congress  was  treated  with  no  less  deference 
than  the  Provincial;  and,  Dec.  5,  the  town  voted  "to  adopt  the 
Continental  resolutions  in  full,  and  particularly  the  llth  article." 
These  were  the  famous  Resolutions  of  Association,  signed  by  the 
delegates  in  Congress,  Oct.  20,  1774:  by  which,  in  a  series  of  four- 
teen articles,  they  bound  themselves  and  their  constituents  not  to 
import  any  of  the  productions  of  Great  Britain  or  her  dependencies 
after  the  1st  of  the  following  December,  not  to  export  to  those 
quarters  after  the  10th  of  September;  to  entirely  discontinue  and 
discountenance  the  slave-trade ;  "  to  encourage  frugality,  economy, 
and  industry,  and  promote  American  agriculture,  arts,  and  manu- 
factures, especially  that  of  wool ; "  to  discourage  every  species  of 
extravagance  and  dissipation,  especially  horse-racing,  gaming, 
cock-fighting,  and  play-going ;  to  wear  no  mourning  on  the  death 
of  a  friend,  "  more  than  a  black  ribbon  on  the  arm  or  hat  for  a 
gentleman,  and  a  black  ribbon  and  necklace  for  a  lady,"  and  to  give 
no  more  gloves  and  scarfs  at  funerals.  Finally  the  "  Associators  " 
bound  themselves  not  to  take  advantage  of  the  scarcity  produced 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  203 

by  non-importation  to  raise  prices.  Some  of  the  articles  of  agree- 
ment were  devoted  to  the  means  of  enforcing  the  others ;  and  the 
llth,  which  Pittsfield  specially  adopted,  provided  that  a  committee 
should  be  appointed  in  every  town,  county,  and  colony,  whose 
duty  it  should  be  "  to  observe  the  conduct  of  all  persons  within  its 
precinct  concerning  the  Association  ;  "  and  if  any  delinquency  was 
proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  majority  of  its  members,  "  to  publish 
the  name  of  the  offender  in  'The  Gazette,'  —  to  the  end  that  all 
such  foes  to  the  rights  of  British  America  might  be  publicly 
known,  and  universally  contemned  as  the  enemies  of  American 
liberty,  and  that  all  patriots  might  thenceforth  break  off  all  inter- 
course with  him  or  her." 

The  persons  chosen  to  compose  this  formidable  committee  in 
Pittsfield  were,  Eli  Root,  Timothy  Childs,  Charles  Goodrich,  Dan 
Cad  well,  Josiah  Wright,  James  D.  Colt,  and  Stephen  Crofoot. 
This  was  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  and  as  yet  distinct  from 
that  of  Correspondence;  to  which  latter  Messrs.  Goodrich,  Childs, 
Root,  and  William  Francis  were  added  at  the  next  meeting.  In 
addition  to  these  two  bodies,  there  was  a  committee  appointed 
upon  the  suppression  of  the  courts, "  to  sit  as  arbitrators,  to  regulate 
disturbances  and  quarrels,  and  to  take  the  Province  law  for  their 
guide."  This  consisted  of  Deacon  Wright,  William  Francis, 
Lieut.  Root.  Capt.  Bush,  Capt.  Israel  Dickinson,  Ensign  John 
Brown,  and  Capt.  Goodrich. 

The  Pittsfield  militia  —  probably  under  the  advice  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  Safety  —  had  early  exchanged  its  organization  under 
commanders  appointed  by  the  governor,  for  one  under  officers  of 
its  own  choice.  How  this  was  effected,  or  at  what  time,  does  not 
appear.  But  on  the  1st  of  September,  Gov.  Gage  having  sent 
out  a  detachment  to  remove  to  Boston  the  Provincial  military 
stores  deposited  at  Charlestown,  a  report  arose  during  the  excite- 
ment which  ensued,  that  the  British  were  firing  upon  the  former 
town.  The  alarm  —  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  feint  of  the 
patriot  leaders  to  try  the  spirit  of  the  people  —  spread  with  mar- 
vellous rapidity ;  and  it  was  estimated  that  forty  thousand  armed 
men  were  the  next  morning  on  their  march  to  defend  or  avenge 
their  brethren.  The  alarm,  having  served  its  purpose,  was  checked, 
and  the  militia  returned  to  their  homes. 

In  this  affair  a  company  of  minute-men,  commanded  by  Capt. 
David  Noble  and  Lieut.  James  Easton,  went  from  Pittsfield  to 


204  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Westfield ;  and  the  town  voted  to  each  private  and  non-commis- 
sioned officer  two  pounds  "  for  himself  and  horse."  The  captain 
and  lieutenant  received  six  pounds  apiece  for  their  services,  but 
were  refused  extra  compensation  for  continuing  their  trip  to 
Boston.  , 

What  the  organization  of  the  militia  was  at  this  time  is  not 
known ;  but  the  town-records  are  significant  of  the  readiness  \yhich 
the  leaders  of  Whig  sentiment  manifested  to  defend  with  the 
sword  the  principles  which  they  had  advocated  on  the  old  meeting- 
house rostrum.  Thus,  in  addition  to  the  two  gallant  officers  named, 
we  find,  before  the  close  of  September,  Deacon  Wright,  Israel 
Dickinson,  and  James  D.  Colt,  captains ;  Eli  Root,  a  lieutenant ; 
and  John  Brown,  —  commencing  at  the  lower  round  of  the  ladder 
of  promotion,  with  Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  —  an  ensign. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  the  Provincial  Congress  took 
measures  to  impart  vigor  to  the  militia ;  and,  among  other  recom- 
mendations, advised  companies  which  had  not  completed  their 
organization  to  do  so  at  once,  and  that  the  captains  and  subal- 
terns then  forthwith  choose  field-officers. 

Under  this  advice,  James  Easton  —  the  deacon  of  our  previous 
story  —  became  colonel  of  the  Berkshire  militia ;  Col.  Williams's 
royal  commission  being  set  aside  for  one  with  a  seal  much  less 
exquisitely  cut.  At  the  same  time,  two  regiments  of  minute-men 
were  put  in  effective  readiness  to  take  the  field  on  the  most  sudden 
alarm,  —  one  in  the  northern  and  middle  section  of  the  county, 
under  Col.  John  Patterson  of  Lenox  ;  the  other  in  the  south, 
under  Col.  John  Fellows  of  Sheffield :  both  "the  commanders 
being  members  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  afterwards  reputa- 
ble brigadiers. 

Capt.  Noble's  company  of  Pittsfield  and  Richmond  men,  in  Col. 
Patterson's  regiment,  continued  to  increase  in  numbers  and  disci- 
pline ;  and,  before  it  was  called  into  service,  numbered  fifty-one  men 
from  the  former  town,  twenty -one  from  the  latter,  all  well  drilled, 
armed,  and  equipped.  Pittsfield  voted  in  January  to  pay  each 
man  from  that  town  who  enlisted  in  this  "Piquet"  company  one 
shilling  and  sixpence  a  day ;  "  he  equipping  and  furnishing  himself 
with  proper  and  sufficient  arms  and  accoutrements  fit  for  war,  and 
standing  ready  at  a  minute's  warning  to  march  and  oppose  the 
enemies  of  the  country  if  called  thereto."  Every  minute-man 
was  required  to  appear  and  exercise  for  three  hours,  four  times  a 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  205 

month,  on  penalty  of  a  fine  of  three  shillings  for  every  neglect 
to  do  so,  for  which  an  excuse  "  satisfactory  to  the  officers 
of  said  Piquet"  was  not  furnished.  The  annual  meeting  in 
March  continued  this  establishment  of  the  company  "  till  further 
orders." 

The  company  was,  however,  indebted  for  its  arms  and  equip- 
ments to  the  generous  enthusiasm  of  its  commander,  —  one  of  the 
most  splendid  displays  of  patriotism  in  the  Revolutionary  story 
of  Pittsfield.  Capt.  Noble,  in  the  alarm  of  September,  went  to 
Boston,  and  there  became  more  thoroughly  impressed  with  the 
imminence  of  the  conflict,  and  the  necessity  of  the  earliest  prep- 
aration for  it.  Upon  his  return,  he  sold  two  farms  in  Stephentown, 
N.Y.,  and  one  or  two  in  Pittsfield,  receiving  pay,  for  the  former 
at  least,  in  gold,  —  a  circumstance  which  his  son  was  enabled  to 
recollect  in  his  old  age,  from  the  fact  that  the  purchaser  brought 
the  coin  to  Pittsfield  quilted  into  every  part  of  his  under-garments, 
from  which  the  narrator's  aunt  had  a  serious  task  in  ripping  the 
glittering  pieces. 

With  the  money  obtained  by  this  sacrifice  of  his  property,  Capt. 
Noble  supplied  his  company  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  stand  of 
arms,  and  uniformed  them  in  neat  and  substantial  "  regimentals ;  " 
their  breeches  being  of  buckskin,  and  their  coats  "of  blue,  turned 
up  with  white."  To  obtain  the  material  for  these,  he  went  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  also  hired  a  breeches-maker,  who  returned 
with  him  to  Pittsfield ;  and  the  uniforms  were  made  up  during 
the  winter  at  his  own  house.1 

The  company,  thus  generously  equipped,  drilled  with  corre- 
sponding zeal,  and  acquired  an  efficiency  which  was  soon  called  into 
exercise. 

Nor  was  the  patriotic  activity  of  the  town  confined  to  Capt. 
Noble  and  his  minute-men.  In  almost  every  family,  excepting 
the  fifteen  or  twenty  Tory  households,  all  were  busy  in  fitting  out 

1  No  repayment  was  ever  made  of  the  sums  expended  by  Capt.  Noble  for  the 
support  of  his  company  at  this  or  other  times;  but,  in  1841,  his  heirs  presented  to 
Congress  a  claim  for  the  seven-years'  half-pay  granted  to  the  widows  and  children 
of  officers  who  died  in  the  service.  This  claim,  although  favorably  reported  upon, 
was  postponed  by  technical  impediments  until  1858,  when  it  was  allowed  upon  a 
report,  full  of  patriotic  sympathies,  made  by  Hon.  H.  L.  Dawes  of  Pittsfield,  from 
the  Committee  upon  Revolutionary  Claims ;  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  many 
of  the  facts  given  in  this  volume  concerning  Capt.  Noble. 


206  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  young  soldiery  for  the  field  ;  so  that,  for  one  campaign  at  least, 
something  of  the  comfort  of  home  might  be  communicated  to  the 
camp.  That  winter  saw  busier  scenes  than  were  ever  before  wit- 
nessed even  in  New-England  kitchens;  while  the  click  of  the  loom 
and  the  hum  of  the  spinning-wheel  made  music  harmonious  with 
that  of  the  drum  and  fife.  Then  (for  in  1774  no  thousand-spin- 
dled factories  clothed  armies  by  contract)  there  were  "spinning- 
matches  "  and  "  clothing-bees ; "  parties  of  "  the  fair  daughters  of 
Pittsfield"  —  the  married  against  the  single,  the  West  against  the 
East  Part,  dames,  or  however  the  match  might  be  made  up  —  con- 
tending for  the  palm  in  those  now  lost  domestic  arts;  the  product 
going  to  clothe  the  army.  And  the  laughter,  although  louder  and 
more  frequent  than  when  such  gatherings  had  been  held  in  token 
of  good  will  to  the  minister,  had  an  undertone  which  showed  that 
none  were  cheated  of  their  forebodings.  Then  the  village  pastor 
—  the  very  embodiment  of  patriotic  ardor,  but  full  of  the  tenderest 
sympathies  for  the  suffering  which  must  needs  be  that  the  right 
might  prevail  —  went  from  gathering  to  gathering,  and  from  house 
to  house,  and  everywhere  left  a  new  sense  of  the  holiness  which 
invested  the  impending  strife  for  liberty. 

In  measures  of  preparation  like  these,  the  Pittsfield  patriots 
passed  that  anxious  winter ;  and,  when  the  call  to  arms  came,  it 
found  them  ready.  The  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  —  or, 
more  probably,  the  alarm  set  on  foot  by  Paul  Revere  on  the  night 
preceding  the  "excursion  of  the  king's  troops"  —  reached  Pitts- 
field  on  the  21st  of  April,  at  noon;1  and  at  sunrise  the  next  morn- 
ing, Capt.  Noble's  minute-men,  the  flower  of  the  youth  of  Pitts- 
field  and  Richmond,  were,  with  the  regiment  to  which  they  were 
attached,  on  their  march  to  Cambridge.  Dr.  Timothy  Childs  was 
one  of  its  lieutenants,2  but  was  soon  detailed  as  surgeon ;  and  the 
commissioned  officers  became,  Capt.  David  Noble,  First  Lieut.  Jo- 
seph Welch  of  Richmond,  Second  Lieut.  Josiah  Wright  of  Pittsfield. 
In  this  form  the  company  served  for  twenty-six  weeks.  Col.  Pat- 

1  Tradition,  with  its  usual  inaccuracy,  makes  this  date  the  20th,  which  is  physi- 
cally impossible.     Revere's  alarm,  starting  from  Boston  in  the  evening  preceding 
"  the  excursion  of  the  king's  troops,"  as  the  Provincials  called  the  affair  in  quaint 
derision,  could  have  barely  reached  Pittsfield  on  the  noon  of  the  21st;  and  the 
rolls  of  the  minute-men  date  their  service  from  the  22d. 

2  His  father,  of  the  same  name,  commanded  the  minute-men  who  at  the  same 
time  set  out  from  Deerfield.  * 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  207 

terson's  regiment  was  then  re-organized,  a  majority  of  the  men 
enlisting  for  a  term  of  eight  months ;  Capt.  Noble's  company  re- 
taining its  officers.  Dr.  Childs  was  made  regimental  surgeon  ;  and 
Dr.  Jonathan  Lee,  also  of  Pittsfield,  and  a  brother-in-law  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Allen,  was  associated  with  him  as  assistant,  and  afterwards 
succeeded  him  as  full  surgeon. 

The  Pittsfield  Tories,  although,  after  the  passage  of  the  regu- 
lating acts  had  unmasked  the  designs  of  the  British  Government, 
ceasing  to  be  a  power  in  town-meetings,  continued  to  be  a 
source  of  annoyance  and  alarm.  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  in  a  letter  of 
May  4,  1775,  to  Col.  Seth  Porneroy,  characterized  them  as  among 
"the  worst  in  the  Province:"  an  opinion  which  was,  however, 
probably  colored  by  the  excitement  of  the  hour.  Other  towns 
would,  doubtless,  in  the  vexation  of  their  troubles,  have  put  in  a 
similar  claim  for  their  black  sheep.  Still,  the  position  of  the  town 
upon  the  doubtful  frontier  of  Columbia  County  (then  King's  Dis- 
trict), which  was  supposed  to  harbor  several  "  nests  of  Tories," 
rendered  it  unsafe  to  tolerate  any  of  their  complexion  in  politics, 
and  compelled  the  utmost  rigor  against  them  on  the  part  of  the 
committees. 

As  early  as  December,  1774,  Woodbridge  Little  and  Israel  Stod- 
dard  were  charged  with  disaffection  "  to  all  the  measures  into 
which  the  people  in  general  were  coming."  It  was  proved  that 
they  had  opposed,  and  refused  to  sign,  "  The  League  and  Covenant," 
which  alone  was  sufficient,  under  the  resolutions  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  to  stamp  them  "the  enemies  of  American  liberty ;"  and 
they,  further,  confessed  that  they  had  advised  a  meeting  of  loyalists, 
who  applied  to  them  for  counsel,  to  send  their  names  to  Gen.  Gage,  — 
to  become  "  addressers,"  —  in  order  to  secure  their  property  from 
confiscation  in  the  anticipated  hour  of  British  and  Tory  vengeance. 
"  As  for  themselves, "  they  had  declared,  when  giving  this  counsel, 
"  no  such  precaution  was  necessary,  as  they  were  already  well 
known  to  Gage  as  sufferers  for  Toryism."  The  not  unnatural  in- 
ference was,  that  they  were  in  secret  communication  with  the 
governor,  and  constantly  conveying  information  to  him  of  the  revo- 
lutionary movements  in  which  their  neighbors  were  engaged.  The 
town,  therefore,  on  the  second  of  January,  "passed  in  full  the 
writing  of  complaint  against  "Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  and  Major 
Stoddard."  The  latter  thereupon  took  refuge  in  the  city  of  New 
York ;  and  "  on  the  same  night  the  news  came  of  the  Lexington 


208  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

battle,  the  said  Little  took  his  flight  to  Kinderhook,  the  place  of 
Tories,  and  thence  to  New  York,"  where  he  joined  his  friend.  The 
"hue  and  cry"  was  raised  upon  them;  and  Little,- venturing  to 
Albany,  was  recognized  through  the  advertisement,  and,  after  being 
imprisoned  a  while  in  the  City  Hall,  was  sent  home.  Here  he  was 
put  under  keepers  until  Stoddard  returned,  preferring  to  trust 
himself  to  the  mercy  of  his  townsmen,  rather  than  endure  further 
exile,  and  risk  the  confiscation  of  his  estate.  Having  then  been 
again  brought  before  the  committee,  and  convicted  of  being  un- 
friendly to  the  common  cause,  "they  humbly  confessed  their  faults, 
asked  forgiveness,  and  promised  reformation."  After  this  ex- 
perience, "  they  seemed  awed  from  open  acts  of  inimical  conduct, 
but  did  not  at  all  times  satisfy  the  people  that  they  were  the  true 
friends  of  the  American  cause;  but  associated  among  themselves, 
and  others  of  the  town  and  elsewhere  of  the  same  kidney,  and 
not  with  people  in  general."  l 

Moses  Graves  and  Elisha  Jones,  whose  sympathies  with  the  ene- 
mies of  their  country  were  more  pronounced  and  practical  than 

1  Report  of  the  committees  to  the  General  Court  in  1776  (Mass.  Ar.  vol.  Ivi. 
p.  193).  Some  of  the  evidence  adduced  against  Major  Stoddard  in  this  report,  we 
have  not  alluded  to  in  the  text,  as  it  does  not  clearly  appear  to  have  been  a  part  of 
the  same  upon  which  the  verdict  of  1775  was  framed,  or  to  have  been  necessary  to 
its  conclusions.  Indeed,  if  the  expressions  reported  by  the  witnesses  to  have  been 
used  by  him  had  been  believed  by  his  townsmen  to  represent  his  genuine  senti- 
ments, they  would  have  found  no  room  for  forgiveness.  They  probably  regarded 
the  language  which  he  was  proved  to  have  used  as  —  what  it  doubtless  was  — 
the  ebullition  of  a  bitter  partisan  in  a  towering  passion ;  and,  although  it  proved 
him  a  virulent  Tory,  by  no  means  convicted  him  of  cool  approval  of  the  atrocities 
threatened.  The  evidence  is,  however,  a  part  of  the  picture  of  the  times,  and  is 
essential  to  its  truthfulness.  As  such  we  quote  it :  — 

"  The  evidence  of  William  Cady,  of  lawful  age,  and  sober  life  and  conversation :  testi- 
fyeth,  that,  just  before  the  Lexington  battle,  he  saw  Israel  Stoddard  Esq. ;  heard  him  say 
that  those  minute-men  would  not  fight;  if  they  were  called,  they  would  not  go,  for  they 
would  not  engage  in  so  bad  a  cause;  if  they  did  go,  that  they  would  all  be  killed;  that 
they  had  no  courage ;  that  there  was  a  plan  laid  to  have  them  all  cut  off;  said  that  the 
enemy  could  cut  off  our  people  by  spreading  the  small-pox ;  said  there  was  nothing  too 
bad  for  the  Whigs ;  said  Stoddard  held  up  his  hands,  and  thanked  God  he  was  not  a 
Whig.  Joseph  Chamberlain  testified  that  sometime  since  these  troubles  came  upon  us, 
he  heard  Israel  Stoddard  say,  he  knew  where  the  regulars  would  strike  upon  ye  countrie, 
for  he  heard  from  them  every  day.  .  .  .  Capt.  Zebulon  Norton  had  heard  Stod- 
dard say,  that  the  people  would  all  be  sorry  they  signed  the  covenant ;  that  they  would  all 
lose  their  estates ;  that  the  regulars  would  come  on  our  front,  and  the  Indians  in  our  rear, 
and  it  would  be  easy  to  subdue  us." 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  209 

were  those  of  Little  and  Stoddard,  were,  in  the  latter  part  of  April, 
committed  to  Northampton  jail,  where  they  remained  until  July, 
when  Graves  was  released  upon  hollow  professions  of  repentance, 
only  to  get  himself  into  trouble  again  in  December;  being 
drummed  out  of  the  town  of  Westfield  for  loud-mouthed  Toryism, 
and  sent  home  to  be  disciplined  in  his  own  precinct.  Jones  was 
also  released,  joined  the  King's  army,  and  suffered  confiscation 
of  his  estate. 

The  annual  town-meeting  in  March  manifested  the  peculiarities 
of  the  times.  It  was  voted,  first,  to  take  the  Province  law  as 
the  guide  of  the  meeting,  ignoring  the  regulating  act.  No 
money  was  appropriated  for  schools.^  The  votes  before  noted, 
regarding  taxes  and  the  continued  pay  of  the  minute-men,  were 
passed.  Col.  Williams,  Deacon  Wright,  Matthew  Barber,  Aaron 
Baker,  Jacob  Ensign,  and  James  D.  Colt  were  chosen  War- 
dens, and  appointed  "  a  committee  to  take  care  of  disorderly 
persons." 

Israel  Dickinson,  Josiah  Wright,  Wm.  Francis,  Col.  Easton, 
and  Capt.  Goodrich  were  elected  selectmen ;  and  Capt.  Dickinson 
was  also  made  town-clerk  and  treasurer. 

John  Brown  being  employed  on  other  service,  Capt.  Charles 
Goodrich  was  chosen  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress  to  be 
held  at  Concord,  March  22. 

In  the  mean  time,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  was  active  in  advocating  Whig 
doctrines  in  King's  District;  speaking  at  Canaan,  Kinderhook, 
Claverack,  and  elsewhere,  to  the  delight  of  the  radical  patriots 
and  the  vehement  displeasure  of  their  opponents,  against  whom 
he  advised  the  strongest  measures,  including  a  confiscation  of  debts 
due  them  to  the  Continental  treasury. 

With  regard  to  his  own  movements,  and  the  general  state  of 
affairs  in  his  vicinity,  he  wrote  to  Gen.  Pomeroy  on  the  9th  as 
follows :  — 

"  Our  militia  this  way,  sir,  are  vigorously  preparing  for  actual  readiness. 
Adjacent  towns  and  this  town  are  buying  arms  and  ammunition.  As  yet, 
there  are  plenty  of  arms  to  be  sold  at  Albany ;  but  we  hear,  that,  by  order 
of  the  Major,  etc.,  no  powder  is  to  be  sold  there  for  the  present.  The  spirit 
of  liberty  runs  high  at  Albany,  as  you  have  doubtless  heard  by  their  own  post 
to  our  headquarters.  I  have  exerted  myself  to  spread  the  same  spirit  in 
King's  District ;  which  has,  of  late,  taken  a  surprising  effect.  The  poor 


210  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Tories  at  Kinderhook  are  mortified  and  grieved,  are  wheeling  about,  and 
begin  to  take  the  quick-step.  New- York  Government  begins  to  be  alive  in 
the  glorious  cause,  and  to  act  with  great  vigor." 

Thus  determined,  self-sacrificing,  and  indefatigable,  were  the 
patriots  of  Pittsfield  in  that  era  of  preparation  for  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

PITTSFIELD  IN  ETHAN  ALLEN'S  TICONDEROGA  CAPTURE, 
[DECEMBER  —  JUNE,  1775.] 

John  Brown  in  the  Provincial  Congress.  —  On  the  Canada  Committee.  —  Selected 
to  go  to  Canada.  — Perilous  Journey.  —  Report  of  his  Mission.  —  Recommends 
the  early  Capture  of  Ticonderoga.  —  Arranges  it  with  Ethan  Allen.  —  Connec- 
ticut plans  the  Capture.  —  Connection  of  the  two  Schemes.  —  The  Commis- 
sioners visit  Pittsfield.  —  John  Brown  and  Col.  Easton  join  the  Party.  —  Its 
Plans  modified  on  their  Suggestion.  —  Col.  Easton  raises  Men  for  the  Expedi- 
tion.—  Councils  of  War  in  Vermont.  —  Rank  of  the  Officers  fixed.  —  Ethan 
Allen.  —  Benedict  Arnold  claims  the  Command,  and  is  resisted.  —  Important 
Letter  from  Arnold.  —  Allen  captures  the  Fort.  —  Easton  and  Brown  announce 
the  Victory  to  the  Continental  and  Provincial  Congresses.  —  Reports  of  Col. 
Allen  and  Capt.  Mott.  —  The  great  Services  of  the  Pittsfield  Officers  officially 
acknowledged. —  Malignant  Course  of  Arnold.  —  He  receives  Troops,  captures  a 
King's  Sloop,  and  sets  up  a  rival  Command.  —  Is  placed  under  Col.  Hinman 
of  Connecticut  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  resigns.  —  Col.  Easton  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  Vacancy.  —  John  Brown  commissioned  Major.  —  Arnold 
embezzles  the  Pay  of  Capt.  James  Noble's  Pittsfield  Company. 

ON  the  6th  of  December,  1774,  the  Provincial  Congress 
appointed,  as  a  committee  to  open  a  correspondence  with 
Canada,  and  obtain  frequent  intelligence  of  movements  there, 
Major  Hawley,  Col.  Seth  Pomeroy,  John  Brown,  Sam.  Adams,  Dr. 
Warren,  and  Dr.  Church.1  The  selection  of  so  many  eminent 
men  showed  the  magnitude  which  Congress  attributed  to  the 
business  assigned  them ;  and  the  committee  also  recognized  it  by 
intrusting  to  one  of  its  own  members  the  difficult  and  dangerous 
task  of  personally  sounding  the  disposition  of  the  Canadians, 
instituting  a  revolutionary  party  among  them,  and  organizing  a 

1  Jour.  Prov.  Cong.,  p.  59. 

211 


212  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

system  of  secret  communication  with  its  leaders.  John  Brown's 
selection  for  this  mission  was  due  not  less  to  his  admirable 
diplomatic  qualities,  and  the  cool  daring  which  in  no  emergency 
left  them  at  fault,  than  to  that  adventurous  ardor  which  continually 
led  him  to  seek  the  most  dashing  and  dangerous  —  not  necessarily 
the  most  conspicuous  —  fields  of  patriotic  service. 

Immediately  upon  receiving  his  appointment,  he  returned  to 
Pittsfield,  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Provincial  Congress, '  made 
preparation  for  his  journey,  and,  as  soon  as  the  pamphlets  and 
papers  intended  for  use  in  Canada  reached  him,  set  out  for 
Albany.  There  he  learned  that  Lakes  George  and  Champlain 
were  impassable ;  but  after  waiting  a  fortnight,  although  their 
condition  was  not  improved,  he  set  out,  accompanied  by  two 
experienced  guides,  and,  after  fourteen  days  of  "  inconceivable 
hardships,"  reached  St.  John's-on-the-Sorel. 

The  perils  as  well  as  the  hardships  of  this  journey  were  extreme. 
Lake  Champlain,  swollen  by  an  extraordinary  freshet,  flooded  a 
great  portion  of  the  country  for  a  space  of  twenty  miles  on  each 
side,  and  especially  towards  Canada.  The  rivers  and  streams 
were  lost  in  the  overflow,  and  the  guides  missed  their  accustomed 
landmarks;  and,  still  worse,  the  broadened  surface,  partly  open, 
was  in  part  covered  with  dangerous  ice,  a  field  of  which,  miles 
in  extent,  breaking  loose,  caught  the  frail  craft  of  our  daring 
voyagers,  and  drove  them  against  an  island,  where  they  remained, 
frozen  in,  two  days,  and  "  were  then  glad  to  foot  it  on  shore." 1 

At  Montreal,  Mr.  Brown  was  cordially  welcomed  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence,  already  organized,  and  obtained  from 
them  and  from  other  sources  a  thorough  comprehension  of  Cana- 
dian character  and  politics,  and  also  of  the  movements  of  the 
military ;  all  which  he  communicated  to  the  Committee  at  Boston, 
together  with  an  outline  of  Gov.  Carleton  and  his  policy,  drawn 
with  striking  truthfulness  in  a  few  rapid  sentences. 

At  Montreal,  he  met  a  delegation  of  the  Quebec  Committee, 
and  consequently  did  not  visit  that  city ;  but  he  travelled  through 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  interior,  in  order  to  disseminate 
patriotic  sentiments,  and  personally  observe  the  disposition  of  the 
people. 

The  guides  who  had  crossed  the  lakes  with  Mr.  Brown  were 

1  Letter  to  Adams  and  Warren,  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  cxciii.  p.  40. 


HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  213 

from  "  the  New-Hampshire  Grants,"  l  —  one  of  them  an  old  hunter 
familiar  with  the  St.  Francois  Indians  and  their  language ;  the 
other  had  once  been  a  captive  among  the  Caughnawagas.  These 
men  he  sent  to  those  tribes  respectively,  and  obtained  positive 
evidence  (hostilities  having  then  not  commenced)  that  the 
royal  commanders  were  intriguing  to  bring  the  savages  upon  the 
colonists.  They  also  obtained  from  the  chiefs  assurances  of  neu- 
trality, which,  although  they  were  afterwards  violated,  were 
probably  as  sincere  as  an  Indian's  pledges  ever  are. 

Mr.  Brown  reported  that  there  was  no  prospect  that  Canada 
would  send  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  gave  no 
hope  of  any  uprising  there,  independent  of  the  presence  of  a 
colonial  army.  The  rivalry  of  races,  and  the  character  of  the 
Canadian  French,  whom  the  British  Government  were  assiduously 
courting,  forbade  both. 

But  he  closed  his  letter  of  March  29 2  with  these  words  :  — 

"  One  thing  I  must  mention  as  a  profound  secret.  The  Fort  at  Ticonderoga 
must  be  seized  as  soon  as  possible,  should  hostilities  be  committed  by  the  king's 
troops.  The  people  on  New-Hampshire  Grants  have  engaged  to  do  this 
business,  and,  in  my  opinion,  are  the  most  proper  persons  for  the  job.  This 
will  effectually  curb  this  Province,  and  all  the  troops  which  may  be  sent  here." 

This  was  the  whole  gist  of  the  plans  which  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  Ticonderoga ;  and  it  was  undoubtedly  written  after 
consultation  Avith  Ethan  Allen,  who  had  lands  on  Grand  Isle, 
and  upon  Shelburne  Point,  now  Colchester  and  Burlington,  which 
juts  into  Lake  Champlain  directly  across  the  route  pursued  by 
the  Canadian  envoy.  Allen,  a  cousin  of  the  Pittsfield  minister, 
was  probably  known  to  Brown,  and,  as  the  commander  of  the 
Green-Mountain  Boys,  was  clearly  the  only  person  competent,  in 
their  behalf,  to  undertake  the  very  serious  "job "  of  surprising 
the  great  fortress  of  the  lakes. 

As  Mr.  Brown  was  writing  the  postscript  to  this  letter,8  the 
messenger  was  impatiently  waiting  to  be  gone  with  it ;  and  it 
reached  Boston,  at  the  latest,  by  the  middle  of  April. 

1  Vermont. 

2  This  letter,  of  which  I  have  made  free  use  in  the  foregoing  pages,  was  ad- 
dressed to  "  Samuel  Adams  and  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  of  the  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence, Boston."     It  is  preserved  in  the  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  cxciii.  pp.  40-44. 

3  This  postscript  announced  Gov.  Carleton's  prohibition  of  the  export  of  wheat 
from  the  St.  Lawrence. 


214  HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD. 

Plans  for  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  were  at  once  rife  in  the 
secret  councils,  not  only  of  Massachusetts,  but  of  Connecticut. 
And  to  the  latter  belongs  the  honor  of  initiating  and  organizing 
the  expedition  which  successfully  executed  the  plans  concocted  by 
Brown  and  Allen,  of  furnishing  for  it  the  requisite  funds,  and  of 
entrusting  it  to  a  commission  which  wisely  represented  its  sover- 
eignty, sagaciously  avoiding  the  perils  which  beset  an  undertaking 
authorized  by  one  colony,  to  be  carried  out  in  another,  by  troops 
collected  from  a  third  and  fourth.1 

The  Connecticut  expedition  was  "  projected  and  undertaken  " 
by  Col.  Samuel  H.  Parsons  and  five  other  gentlemen,  who,  on  the 
27th,  sent  forward  Messrs.  Phelps  and  Romans,  procuring  for  them 
£300  from  the  colonial  treasury,  upon  their  personal  responsibility 
for  its  judicious  use.  Capt.  Mott  arrived  the  next  day' at  Hartford, 
and,  having  recently  been  at  Cambridge,  was  questioned  as  to  the 
best  method  of  obtaining  a  supply  of  artillery  for  the  siege  of  the 
British  army  in  Boston.  He  at  once  proposed  the  surprise  of 
Ticonderoga,  which  he  pronounced  perfectly  feasible :  upon  which 
he  was  informed  of  what  was  on  foot,  and  consented  to  assume  the 
lead  of  the  party  which  had  gone  on,  adding  to  it  five  or  six 
trusty  volunteers. 

The  project  had  been  suggested  to  Col.  Parsons  by  a  conversation 
with  Benedict  Arnold,  who  had,  or  pretended  to  have,  an  exact  ac- 
count of  the  cannon  at  Ticonderoga,  and  the  condition  of  defences 
there.  It  is  possible  that  both  his  proposition  and  that  of  Mott 
might  have  been  traced  to  rumors  of  recommendations  contained 
in  Mr.  Brown's  letter  to  Adams  and  Warren.  Capt.  Mott's  recent 
return  from  the  camp  where  those  leaders  were  the  moving  spirits 
favors  the  supposition,  but  I  am  aware  of  no  evidence  which 
proves  it  correct.  The  immediate  object  of  the  Connecticut 
expedition  —  to  supply  the  pressing  demand  for  siege-artillery  — 

1  This  commission  consisted  of  Edward  Mott,  Noah  Phelps,  and  Bernard 
Romans,  the  latter  of  whom  appears  not  to  have  contributed  his  full  share  to  the 
good  sense  of  the  management.  Capt.  Mott,  although  not  appointed  until  the 
others  had  set  off,  acted  as  the  head  of  the  commission,  and  has  left  two  accounts  of 
the  expedition,  —  one  in  his  diary  recently  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Connecticut  Hist.  Soc. ;  the  other  in  a  letter  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
Massachusetts,  in  whose  journals  it  is  printed  with  other  papers  relating  to  the 
surprise  of  Ticonderoga.  Upon  these  two  collections,  two  letters  from  Rev.  Mr. 
Allen  to  Gen.  Pomeroy,  and  a  few  isolated  papers,  named  when  referred  to,  we  have 
founded  our  account  of  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  events  connected  with  it. 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  215 

was  certainly  original  with  its  projectors ;  and  the  entire  indepen- 
dence of  their  scheme,  in  its  inception,  of  that  proposed  by  Mr. 
Brown,  may  be  conceded  without  at  all  diminishing  the  honor  due 
to  his  connection  with  the  exploit.  That  his  was  the  first  proposi- 
tion for  the  seizure  of  the  post  is  unquestioned  ;  and  it  is  proof  of 
his  political  and  military  sagacity,  that  he  so  early  perceived  that 
for  one  campaign,  if  no  more,  Great  Britain  would  operate  against 
her  ancient  colonies  from  the  new  possessions  which  they  had 
helped  her  to  win  from  France ;  that  the  old  antagonistic  military 
bases  of  North  America  were  to  be  restored  ;  that  the  old  war-path 
must  be  trod  anew ;  and  that  the  utmost  advantage  would  accrue 
to  the  party  which  should  first  secure  the  great  fortress,  that,  for 
half  a  century,  had  been  familiar  to  New  England  as  the  key  of 
Canada.  It  was  by  recommending  action  founded  upon  tlfese 
observations  ;  by  discerning  at  a  glance  the  method  in  which,  and 
the  soldiery  by  whom,  that  action  could  be  successfully  taken ;  by 
enlisting  the  fittest  commander  for  the  enterprise ;  and  by  the  aid 
which  he  rendered  personally  in  executing  the  scheme  which  he 
had  planned,  —  that  he  connected  his  fame  with  the  patriotic 
measures  of  Connecticut  and  the  memorable  exploit  of  Ethan 
Allen. 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  impeach  the  claim  of  Messrs. 
Parsons  and  Mott  to  originality,  in  suggesting  the  Ticonderoga 
expedition,  in  order  to  trace  its  triumphant  success,  link  by  link, 
directly  back  to  the  chance-meeting  of  John  Brown  and  Ethan 
Allen  on  the  flooded  shores  of  Champlain. 

Capt.  Mott  set  out  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  April  29,  to 
overtake  his  associates ; x  and  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  or  the 
evening  previous,  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  members  of 
the  Massachusetts  committee  to  correspond  with  neighboring 
colonies,  reached  Hartford  on  their  way  to  attend  the  Continental 
Congress.2  The  great  undertaking  on  foot  was  naturally  commu- 
nicated to  them,  and  received  their  approval,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Goveraor  and  Council  of  Connecticut,  who  were,  perhaps  now  for 
the  first  time,  officially  apprised  of  it.8 

1  Con.  Hist.  Col.,  vol.  i.  p.  167. 

2  Am.  Ar.,  ser.  4th,  vol.  ii.  p.  401. 

8  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  Chairman  of  the  Pittsfield  Committee  of  Correspondence  and 
Inspection,  in  a  letter  of  May  4,  speaks  of  the  "  plan  "  of  the  expedition  as  having 
been  '•  concerted  "  at  this  interview.  He  obtained  his  information  from  the  verbal, 


21G  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

It  may  be  th.it  Capt.  Mott  now  first  learned  the  recommendations 
of  John  Brown  ;  for,  even  if  loose  talk  of  the  capture  of  Ticon- 
deroga  as  desirable  had  arisen  in  the  Cambridge  camp  from  the 
Montreal  letter,  its  details  were,  as  the  writer  requested,  kept  a 
profound  secret.  But  it  would  have  been  strange  indeed,  and  most 
unlike  the  man,  had  Mr.  Adams  allowed  the  Connecticut  leader  to 
depart  on  such  a  mission  as  he  was  sent  upon,  without  the  aid  of 
all  the  information  pertinent  to  it  which  his  position  upon  the 
Canadian  committee  enabled  him  to  impart.  It  is  incredible  that 
he  left  him  in  ignorance  of  facts  so  essential  to  the  business  which 
he  had  in  hand,  as  the  measures  already  taken  and  proposed  by 
John  Brown  in  the  same  direction.  It  is  clear,  from  Capt.  Mott's 
subsequent  proceedings,  that  Mr.  Adams  was  guilty  of  no  such 
culpable  and  thoughtless  oversight. 

Having  been  joined  by  their  leader,  who  left  Hartford  on  the 
29th,  the  Connecticut  party,  increased  in  number  to  sixteen, 
reached  Daniel  Dewey's  tavern  in  Sheffield,  and  thence  sent  a 
delegation  of  two  to  Albany  to  "discover  the  temper  of  the  people 
at  that  place,"  —  so  uncertain,  at  that  time,  were  the  people  of 
different  colonies  of  each  other's  patriotism.  The  same  night  they 
reached  Pittsfield,  and  took  quarters  at  the  tavern  then  kept  by 
Col.  Easton,  about  eighty  feet  south  of  the  present  corner  of  Park 
Square  and  South  Street. 

"They  had  intended  to  keep  their  business  secret,  and  ride 
through  the  countiy  unarmed,  until  they  came  to  the  new  settle- 
ments on  The  Grants;"  but  at  Col.  Easton's  they  found  John 
Brown,1  and  determined  to  take  him  into  their  councils,  as  well  as 
their  landlord,  the  colonel  of  the  Berkshire  militia. 

Mr.  Brown's  opinion  that  the  Green-Mountain  Boys  were  the 
proper  persons  to  undertake  the  "job"  at  Ticonderoga,  will  be 

and  not  very  precise  or  minutely  detailed  statements  of  the  Connecticut  commis- 
sioners during  their  brief  stay  in  Pittsfield.  Plans  for  the  expedition  were,  as  the 
reader  knows,  concerted  previously;  but  they  were,  without  doubt,  in  some  degree 
modified  by  the  advice  and  information  received  from  Hancock  and  Adams,  and 
especially  the  latter.  Mr.  Allen's  letters  to  Gen.  Pomeroy,  referred  'to  in  this 
chapter,  are  printed  in  the  Am.  Ar.,  ser.  4th,  vol.  ii.  pp.  507,  546. 

1  Mr.  Brown,  after  establishing  "a  channel  of  communication,  which  could  be 
depended  upon,"  from  Canada,  "  through  the  New-Hampshire  Grants  "  had  just 
returned  home ;  and  his  presence  in  Pittsfield  was  probably  neither  known  to  Mr. 
Adams,  nor  expected  by  Capt.  Mott, — a  supposition  which  explains  passages  in 
the  latter's  diary,  otherwise  obscure. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  217 

remembered.  It  bad  probably  been  communicated  by  Mr.  Adams 
to  the  Hartford  Committee.  Capt.  Mott  certainly  left  Hartford 
with  instructions  not  to  increase  his  party  of  sixteen  until  he 
reached  The  Grants. 

Circumstances,  aided  no  doubt  by  sympathy  with  Col.  Easton's 
desire  that  his  Berkshire  regiment  should  have  a  part  in  the 
achievement,  had  modified  Mr.  Brown's  views;  and  he  now  con- 
curred with  the  colonel  in  representing,  that  "as  there  was  great 
scarcity  of  provisions  in  The  Grants,  and  the  people  were  generally 
very  poor,  it  would  be  difficult  to  raise  a  sufficient  body  of  men 
there." 

The  commissioners  yielding  to  this  advice,  Mr.  Brown,  Capt. 
Dickinson,  and  four  or  five  others  from  Pittsfield,  were  admitted 
to  the  party ;  and  Col.  Easton's  offer  to  assist  with  some  men  from 
his  regiment  was  accepted.  To  preserve  secrecy,  however,  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  raise  no  more  men  in  Pittsfield ;  but,  while 
their  associates  proceeded  to  Bennington,  Col.  Easton  and  Capt. 
Mott  crossed  the  mountain  into  Jericho,  now  Hancock.  There 
they,  with  the  aid  of  Capt.  Asa  Douglas,  an  active  and  noted 
patriot  of  that  place,  enlisted  twenty-four  men,  to  whom  fifteen 
were  added  in  Williamstown.  Col.  Easton's  regiment  contributed 
in  all  forty-seven  men  to  the  expedition. 

Leaving  Capt.  Douglas  to  follow  with  his  company,  Messrs. 
Easton  and  Mott  hastened  forward  to  Bennington,  where  they 
found  that  a  part  of  their  advanced  delegation  Avere  staggered  by 
the  report  of  some  nameless  fellow,  who  pretended  that  he  had 
just  come  from  Ticonderoga,  and  that  the  garrison,  re-enforced  and 
alert,  were  diligently  repairing  their  works.  A  messenger  had 
even  been  sent  to  advise  Capt.  Mott  to  dismiss  his  recruits, 
and  abandon  his  project ;  but,  by  his  eloquence  and  personal  influ- 
ence, he  soon  revived  the  drooping  spirits  of  his  comrades;  tell- 
ing them  that  it  would  never  do  to  go  back  to  Hartford  with  a 
story  like  that ;  and  that,  as  for  himself,  he  would  not  fear,  with 
the  two  hundred  men  which  they  proposed  to  raise,  to  go  round 
the  fort  in  broad  daylight.  Even  were  its  garrison  five  hundred,' 
they  would  not  dare  follow  them  to  the  woods.  Others  of  his 
companions  responding  in  the  same  tone,  the  disheartened  few 
were  reassured ;  and  all  determined  to  go  forward  except  Bernard 
Romans.  Of  him  they  were  well  rid  :  he  "  had  been  but  a  trouble." 

At  Bennington,  Ethan  Allen  came  to  them,  evidently  to  meet 


218  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

his  old  engagement  with  John  Brown.  There  is  no  hint  of  any 
new  negotiation ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  expected,  as  a  matter 
fully  provided  for,  that,  when  the  great  partisan  received  the  signal 
that  the  hour  for  action  had  come,  he  would  be  found  prompt  at 
the  rendezvous,  and  ready  to  assume  the  chief  burden  of  the 
undertaking. 

A  council  of  war,  Col.  Easton  presiding,  directed  Col.  Allen, 
who  was  rapidly  calling  his  Green-Mountain  Boys  around  him,  to 
send  forward  patrols  on  the  northern  road,  and  prevent  news  of 
their  approach  preceding  them. 

They  then  advanced  to  Castleton,  —  twenty-five  miles,  by  the 
route  pursued,  from  Ticonderoga,  —  and  there,  on  the  8th  of 
May,  held  a  general  council,  at  which  they  considered  their 
methods  of  further  procedure,  and  of  retreat  in  case  of  repulse. 
It  was  agreed  that  Capt.  Herrick  should  proceed  to  Skenesborough, 
and  capture  Major  Skene  and  his  party;  take  what  boats  they 
found  there,  and,  the  next  night,  drop  down  to  Shoreham,1  there 
to  ferry  the  attacking  party  across  the  lake.  This  party 
consisted  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  men :  and  in  fulfilment 
of  a  promise  made  to  them  when  enlisting,  that  they  should  be 
commanded  by  their  own  officers,  Ethan  Allen  was  placed  first, 
James  Easton  second,  and  Seth  Warner  third  in  command ;  the 
rank  of  these  officers  being  fixed  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
men  they  respectively  procured.  In  addition  to  these  arrange- 
ments, Capt.  Douglas  was  sent  to  Crown  Point  to  hire  the  king's 
boats  at  that  post,  if  he  could  do  so  by  some  stratagem,  aided  by 
his  brother-in-law,  who  lived  there. 

The  whole  plan  having  been  harmoniously  "  settled  by  a  vote  of 
the  committee,"  and  the  time  fixed  when  "  he  must  be  ready,  and 
must  take  possession  of  the  garrison  at  Ticonderoga,"  Col.  Allen 
left  to  make  some  arrangements  at  Shoreham.2 

That  evening,  mischief  appeared  at  Castleton,  in  the  ill-omened 
shape  of  Benedict  Arnold.  This  man  was  already  odious  in  Con- 
neticut ;  but  he  had  led  a  volunteer  company  from  New  Haven  to 
Cambridge,  and  had  there  obtained  from  the  Committee  of  Safety 

1  Major  Skene,  a  half-pay  British  officer,  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  and 
supposed  to  be  the  confidential  agent  of  the  government,  had  built  up  the  flourish- 
ing village  of  Skenesborough  —  now  Whitehall  —  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain. 
Shoreham  is  twenty-five  miles  below  Whitehall,  and  nearly  opposite  Ticonderoga. 

2  Mott's  Diary. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  219 

a  commission  as  "  colonel  and  commander  of  a  body  of  forces,  not 
to  exceed  four  hundred,  to  be  raised  for  the  reduction  of 
Ticonderoga." 

He  proposed  to  obtain  his  forces  in  Berkshire,  and  is  said  to 
have  authorized  enlistments  in  Stockbridge.  But,  on  reaching 
Pittsfield,  he  learned  of  the  expedition  which  was  anticipating 
him,  and  hastened  to  overtake  it,  determined,  with  his  accus- 
tomed effrontry,  to  assume  command ;  although  the  troops  —  en- 
listed by  Connecticut,  receiving  her  pay,  and  operating  beyond  the 
bounds  of  Massachusetts  —  owed  no  more  allegiance  to  the  com- 
mittee at  Cambridge,  than  Capt.  De  la  Place's  garrison  in  Ticon- 
deroga did. 

He  needed  to  move  quickly  who  would  overtake  Ethan  Allen 
in  the  execution  of  his  plans ;  but  Arnold,  when  spurred  by  the 
promptings  of  selfish  ambition,  was  equal  to  any  achievement.  In 
his  haste,  he,  however,  found  time  to  send  back  the  following  letter1 
to  the  committees  of  the  Berkshire  towns : — 

REUPORT,  8th  May,  1775. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  By  the  best  information  I  can  get,  there  is  one  hundred 
men,  or  more,  at  Ticonderoga,  who  are  alarmed,  and  keep  a  good  lookout.  I 
am  also  informed,  the  sloop  is  gone  to  St.  John's  for  provisions ;  that  she  had 
six  guns  mounted,  and  twenty  men.  We  have  only  one  hundred  -and  fifty 
men  gone  on,  whick  are  not  sufficient  to  secure  the  vessels,  and  keep  the 
lakes ;  this  ought  by  all  means  to  be  done,  that  we  may  cut  off  their  commu- 
nication, and  stop  all  supplies  going  to  the  fort,  until  we  can  have  a  sufficient 
number  of  men  from  the  lower  towns. 

I  beg  the  favor  of  you,  gentlemen,  as  far  down  as  this  reaches,  to  exert  your- 
selves, and  send  forward  as  many  men  to  join  the  army  here  as  you  can  pos- 
sibly spare.  There  is  plenty  of  provisions  engaged,  and  on  the  road,  for  five 
hundred  men  six  or  eight  weeks.  Let  every  man  bring  as  much  powder  and 
ball  as  he  can,  also  a  blanket.  Their  wages  are  40s.  per  month.  I 
humbly  engaged  to  see  paid ;  also  the  blankets. 
I  am,  gentlemen, 

Your  humble  servant, 

BENEDICT  ARNOLD, 
Commander  of  the  force*. 
To  THE  GENTLEMEN  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  TOWNS. 

1  This  letter,  whose  authenticity  is  beyond  dispute,  was  found  in  1844  by  the 
late  Hon.  E.  E.  Colt  of  Pittsfield,  among  the  papers  of  David  Dunnels,  a  Revolu- 
tionary pensioner  of  Cheshire.  It  is  now  in  the  Hon.  Thomas  Colt's  collection  of 
historical  documents. 


220  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Nothing  surely  could  be  more  unlike  to  Arnold's  plan  of  opera- 
tions than  that  which  had  been  agreed  upon  at  Castleton,  in 
which  he  expressed  his  utter  want  of  confidence.  Capt.  Mott  and 
his  friends  were  "  shockingly  surprised  "  —  as  they  well  might  have 
teen  — "when  Col.  Arnold  presumed  to  contend  for  the  command 
of  the  forces  they  had  raised,"  in  the  manner,  and  upon  the  con- 
ditions which  have  been  stated :  but  that  master  of  impudent 
assumption,  having  been  generously  told  all  their  plans,  continued 
strenuously  to  insist  upon  his  right  to  command ;  which  was  as 
strenuously  resisted.  Defeated  here,  Arnold,  the  next  morning, 
proceeded  to  overtake  Allen,  with  the  rather  desperate  hope  of 
inducing  that  hero  to  surrender  his  rights.  It  seems  that  even 
the  members  of  the  expedition  did  not  yet  quite  understand  the 
nature  of  the  man  who  led  them ;  for  the  moment  Arnold  started, 
the  whole  party,  leaving  Capts.  Mott  and  Phelps,  with  a  single 
companion,  to  care  for  the  baggage  as  they  best  could,  followed, 
pell-mell,  "  for  fear  he  should  prevail  with  Col.  Allen."  l 

If  Arnold's  conduct  shocked  the  leaders,  it  bred  a  mutiny 
amongst  the  soldiers,  and  almost  "  frustrated  the  design  they  were 
upon."  2  "  Our  men,"  wrote  Capt.  Mott  to  the  Massachusetts 
Council  of  War,  "were  for  clubbing  their  firelocks  and  marching 
home:  but  were  prevented  by  Col.  Allen  and  Col.  Easton,  who 
told  them  that  Arnold  should  not  have  the  command  of  them ;  or, 
if  he  had,  that  their  pay  should  be  the  same  as  if 'they  were  under 
their  own  command.  But  they  would  damn  the  pay,  and  say  they 
would  be  commanded  by  no  other  than  those  they  had  engaged 
with."  And  so  Arnold  at  last,  perceiving  the  folly  of  issuing  com- 
mands which  none  would  obey,  consented,  although  still  meditating 
mischief,  to  join  the  party  as  a  volunteer.  An  honorable  posi- 
tion was  assigned  him  by  the  magnanimity  of  those  towards 
whom  he  had  shown  none ;  and  the  little  army  moved  on  to  the 
execution  of  its  appointed  task. 

They  reached  Shoreham  on  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  Mny,  but 
found  none  of  the  boats  which  they  had  hoped  to  receive  either 
from  Skenesborough  or  Crown  Point.  Capt.  Phelps  also,  who  had 
visited  the  fort  in  disguise,  was  detained  with  the  baggage,  and 
had  not  yet  come  up.  It  was  determined,  however,  to  lose  no  time. 
Nathan  Beman,  a  boy  of  the  neighborhood,  who  was  familiar 
with  every  nook  and  crany  of  the  fort,  was  engaged  as  guide; 

'  Mott's  Diary.  2  Joun  Prov  Cong.,  p.  697. 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  221 

and,  availing  themselves  of  such  scant  ferriage  as  was  at  hand,  the 
party  began  to  cross  the  lake.  Barely  eighty-three  men  had 
reached  the  Ticonderoga  shore  when  day  began  to  dawn,  and  there 
remained  no  safety  but  in  an  immediate  advance.  The  boats  were 
hastily  despatched  for  the  rear  division.  Allen,  drawing  his  corps 
up  in  three  columns,  made  them  a  brief,  earnest  harangue,  such 
as  he  well  knew  how  to  address  to  his  followers,  and  then,  with 
Nathan  Beman  by  his  side,  led  them,  rapidly  and  in  silence,  up 
the  steep  ascent.  Before  sunrise,  he  entered  the  gate ;  the  sentinel 
snapping  his  fusee,  which  missed  fire,  in  his  face  as  he  passed. 
The  surprise  was  complete.  The  flying  guard  guided  the  Ameri- 
cans directly  to  the  parade-ground  within  the  barracks,  where  a 
second  sentinel  made  a  bayonet  thrust  at  Col.  Easton,  inflicting  a 
slight  wound ;  for  which  attention  to  his  friend,  Allen  repaid  the 
unlucky  soldier  with  a  sword-cut  on  the  head,  which  induced  him 
to  beg  quarter. 

The  victors  were  then  drawn  up  on  the  parade,  and  gave  three 
rousing  cheers ;  which  not  sufficing  to  bring  out  Capt.  de  la  Place, 
the  post-commander,  Col.  Allen  mounted  to  the  door  of  his  apart- 
ment, which  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs  on  the  outside  of  the 
barracks,  and  there,  in  full  view  of  the  party  below,  ensued  the 
famous  scene  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Ticonderoga  to 
the  demand  made  in  the  name  of  Almighty  God  and  the  Conti- 
nental Congress. 

The  Connecticut  Committee,  through  their  chairman,  Capt. 
Mott,  thus  recognized  the  services  of  Col.  Easton  and  John  Brown, 
in  their  report  to  the  Massachusetts  Congress :  — 

"  Col.  James  Easton  was  of  great  service,  both  in  council  and  action ; 
raising  men  for  the  expedition,  and  appearing  to  be  well  qualified,  not  only 
for  colonel  of  militia  at  home,  but  for  service  in  the  field. 

"  John  Brown,  Esq.,  of  Pittsfield,  we  recommend  as  an  able  counsellor, 
and  full  of  spirit  and  resolution.  We  wish  they  may  be  both  employed 
in  the  service  of  their  country  in  a  situation  equal  to  their  merits."  1 

Col.  Allen,  in  his  report  to  the  Congress,  wrote,  — 

"  The  soldiery  were  composed  of  about  one  hundred  Green-Mountain 
Boys,  and  near  fifty  veteran  soldiers  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  latter 
were  commanded  by  Col.  James  Easton,  who  behaved  with  great  zeal  and 
fortitude,  not  only  in  council,  but  in  the  assault.  The  soldiery  behaved 

1  Jour.  Prov.  Con.,  p.  697. 


222  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

with  such  resistless  fury,  that  they  so  terrified  the  king's  troops  that  they 
durst  not  fire  on  their  assailants;  and  our  soldiery  were  agreeably  disap- 
pointed. The  soldiery  behaved  with  uncommon  rancor  when  they  leaped 
into  the  fort ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  colonel  has  greatly  con- 
tributed to  the  taking  of  that  fortress,  as  well  as  John  Brown,  Esq.,  who 
was  personally  in  the  attack." 1 

Col.  Easton,  in  his  report,  wrote,  — 

"  As  to  other  regimental  officers,  Capt.  Israel  Dickinson  and  John  Brown, 
Esq.,  distinguished  themselves  very  highly,  both  in  council  and  in  action,  and, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  are  well  qualified  to  command  in  the  field."  2 

The  news  of  so  brilliant  and  unexpected  an  exploit  as  the  capture 
(without  the  loss  of  life,  and  at  so  trifling  a  cost  of  treasure) 
of  the  famous  fortress  of  Lake  Champlain,  with  its  vast  military 
stores,  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  and  courage  through  the  land.  And,  as 
the  imminence  of  a  grand  campaign  on  the  northern  frontier  loomed 
on  the  popular  apprehension,  a  cooler  estimate  of  the  gains  which 
had  accrued  to  the  Colonies  enhanced  their  value. 

In  reference  to  the  primary  object  of  Connecticut,  to  secure 
heavy  artillery  for  the  siege  of  Boston,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  on  the 
9th  of  May,  wrote  to  Gen.  Pomeroy  at  Cambridge,  — 

"  Should  the  expedition  succeed,  and  should  the  Council  of  War  send  up 
their  orders  for  the  people  this  way  to  transport  by  land  twenty  or  thirty  of 
the  best  cannon  to  head-quarters,  I  doubt  not  but  the  people  in  this  county 
would  do  it  with  expedition.  We  could  easily  raise  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen 
for  the  business." 

In  view,  however,  of  the  hostilities  from  the  north  which  John 
Brown  had  predicted,  and  which  were  now  seen  to  be  almost 
inevitable,  it  was  considered  unadvisable  to  weaken  the  defences 
of  that  frontier ;  and  although  some  of  the  cannon  were  removed 
to  Fort  George,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  of  that  name,  Ticon- 
deroga  was  not  dismantled,  but  greatly  strengthened  in  its  works. 

John  Brown  was  sent  to  announce  the  capture  to  the  Conti- 
nental, and  Col.  Easton  to  the  Provincial  Congress.  Both  were 
cordially  received,  and  introduced  to  the  floors  of  the  bodies  to 
which  they  were  respectively  accredited,  that  they  might  give  the 
details  of  the  glorious  enterprise  in  which  they  had  taken  promi- 
nent parts.  After  listening  to  Col.  Easton,  the  Congress  at 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.,  vol.  ii.  p.  556.  2  Jour.  Prov.  Con.,  p.  713. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  223 

Cambridge  passed  suitable  resolutions,  with  which  he  was  de- 
spatched to  Hartford,  where  he  was  again  received  with  enthusi- 
asm, and  handsomely  entertained  by  the  Connecticut  authorities. 

His  mission  to  the  two  governments  was  managed  with  discre- 
tion and  ability ;  and  the  favorable  impression  which  he  made  at 
Cambridge  was  soon  manifested  by  substantial  tokens.  All  parties 
acted  towards  each  other  with  consideration  and  magnanimity, 
except  Arnold.  It  was  the  complaints  which  he  was  pouring  into 
headquarters  that  gave  Col.  Easton's  visit  there  the  character  of 
something  more  than  mere  congratulation. 

The  surrender  of  Ticonderoga  had  no  sooner  taken  place  than 
Arnold  renewed  his  pretensions  to  command,  and  insisted  that 
Allen  was  acting  under  no  proper  authority;  upon  which  Capt. 
Mott,  in  the  name  of  Connecticut,  drew  up  and  signed  a  commis- 
sion, placing  Allen  in  command  of  the  party,  and  directing  him  to 
keep  the  possession  of  Ticonderoga  and  its  dependencies  until 
further  orders  from  the  Colony  or  from  the  Continental  Congress. 

In  the  mean  time,  under  the  requisition  sent  from  Rupert,  a  con- 
siderable body  of  levies  from  the  Berkshire  militia  had  reached 
Arnold  ;  among  them  a  detachment,  composed  of  fifteen  men  from 
each  company  in  Pittsfield  and  vicinity,  led  by  Capt.  James  Noble 
of  that  town,  a  brother  of  him  who  marched  the  minute-men  to 
Cambridge.  With  a  portion  of  the  troops  which  he  had  thus 
received,  Arnold  made  the  capture  of  the  king's  sloop,  upon 
which  he  had  laid  so  much  stress  in  his  Rupert  Circular,1  and  thus 
was  enabled  to  establish  a  rival  command  upon  the  lake. 

While  engaged  in  these  legitimate,  although  not  always  mag- 
nanimous operations,  the  embryo  traitor  was  flooding  the  Massa- 
chusetts Congress,  the  public  press,  and  influential  individuals, 
with  letters  vilifying,  in  the  most  malignant  terms,  the  heroes  who 
had  just  met  the  approval  of  so  glorious  success ;  and  it  was  in 
counteracting  the  effect  of  these  vile  missives,  that  Col.  Easton's 
mission  at  Cambridge  and  Hartford  required  all  his  tact,  temper, 
and  ability ;  and  it  was  by  successfully  exercising  these  qualities, 
that  the  colonel  laid  the  foundation  of  that  enmity  with  which 
Arnold  followed  him  until  he  drove  him  from  the  army. 

The  Provincial  Congress,  greatly  perplexed  by  the  conflicting 

1  Capt.  Noble  did  not  personally  take  part  in  this  exploit,  haying  been  sent  to 
Albany  by  Arnold  for  supplies  for  his  army. 


224  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

reports  from  Ticonderoga,  could,  with  certainty,  infer  from  them 
one  truth  ;  and  that  was,  that  the  state  of  affairs  upon  the  lakes  was 
such  as  could  not  safely  continue.  It  therefore,  on  the  13th  of 
June,  sent  a  joint  committee  to  the  post,  charged,  among  other 
duties,  to  inform  themselves  of  the  manner  in  which  Arnold  had 
executed  his  commission.  They  found  him,  at  St.  John's,  with  the* 
sloop  which  he  had  taken,  and  claiming,  also,  "  the  command  of  all 
the  posts  and  fortresses  at  the  south  end  of  Lakes  Champlain  and 
George;  although  Col.  Hinman  of  Connecticut  was  at  Ticonder- 
og;i,  with  near  a  thousand  men  under  his  command  at  the  several 
posts." 

The  committee  informed  Arnold  of  the  commission  intrusted 
to  them,  and  handed  him  their  instructions ;  which  authorized  them 
to  continue  him  in  the  service  of  Massachusetts,  with  such  orders 
as  they  saw  fit,  "  provided  ...  he  and  his  men  were  willing  to 
remain  at  one,  or  both,  of  the  lake-posts,  under  such  chief  officer 
as  Connecticut  might  appoint." 

Then  the  spirit  of  Arnold  broke  forth.  "  He  seemed  greatly 
disconcerted,  declared  that  he  would  not  be  second  in  command 
to  any  person  whomsoever ; "  and,  after  considering  the  matter 
a  while,  disbanded  the  men  he  had  raised,  and  handed  the  com- 
mittee his  resignation.  They  immediately  appointed  Col.  Easton 
to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  soon  after  gave  him  John  Brown  for  his 
major.  The  unwarrantable  and  petty  conduct  of  Arnold,  in  spite- 
fully disbanding  the  men  which  he  had  raised  at  the  expense  of 
the  colony,  caused  some  little  annoyance  for  a  time.  But  Capt. 
Noble,  who  was  at  Crown  Point  with  some  of  the  disbanded  sol- 
diers, expressed  in  their  behalf  a  willingness  to  return  to  the 
service;  and,  being  intrusted  with  one  hundred  pounds  to  be 
used  as  advance  pay,  he  succeeded  in  re-enlisting  a  company 
of  fifty-one.  Col.  Easton's  command  soon  assumed  respectable 
proportions. 

With  one  more  incident,  we  close  this  first  chapter  of  Benedict 
Arnold's  dealings  with  the  Pittsfield  soldiery.  His  "humble 
engagement  to  see  paid  the  wages"  of  the  recruits  who  responded 
to  his  call  from  Rupert  will  be  remembered.  How  that  promise 
was  kept  will  be  best  told  by  an  extract  from  the  records  of  the 
General  Court,  dated  four  months  after  he  had  disbanded  at"* 
abandoned,  at  Ticonderoga,  the  men  who  had  trusted  him.1  , 

1  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  ccvii.  p.  200. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  225 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
Nov.  9,  1775. 

The  Committee  on  Col.  Arnold's  account  have  examined  Capt.  Noble's 
pay-roll,  and  find  that  the  said  Arnold  has  charged  this  colony  with  said 
Noble's  pay-roll,  and  has  received  the  whole  amount  thereof.  It  further  ap- 
pears that  the  balance  due  the  said  Noble,  which  the  said  Arnold  has  re- 
ceived, amounts  to  £36.  5s.  5d. ;  and  as  it  appears  that  the  said  Noble  and  his 
men  are  in  great  want  of  their  money,  and  the  said  Arnold  is  now  in  the 
Continental  service,  and  cannot  at  present  be  come  at,  to  pay  the  sum  he  re- 
ceived for  the  use  of  the  said  Noble  and  his  company  —  therefore  resolved, 
that  there  be  allowed  and  paid  by  the  Treasurer  of  this  colony  to  the  said 
Capt.  James  Noble  the  sum  of  £36  5s.  5d.,  being  the  full  balance  of  his 
muster-roll ;  he  giving  security  to  pay  the  men  made  up  in  said  roll  the 
sums  severally  due  to  them. 

And  it  is  further  resolved  that  this  court  prefer  to  Gen.  Washington  a 
charge  of  the  sum  aforesaid  against  the  said  Arnold ;  that  a  stoppage  of 
so  much  as  is  before  ordered  to  be  paid  to  said  Noble  may  be  made  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Continent. 


15 


i  i 
Alban 


CHAPTER    XIH. 

PITTSFIELD   IN  THE  FIRST  NORTHERN  CAMPAIGN,  AND  AT  THE  SIEGE 

AT  BOSTON. 

[MAY  —  NOVEMBER,  1775.] 

Rivalries  at  Ticonderoga.  —  Col.  Easton  proposes  an  Invasion  of  Canada.  —  He 
raises  a  Regiment.  —  Pittsfield  Companies  in  it.  —  Gen.  Schuyler  appointed  De- 
partment Commander.  —  First  Visit  to  Ticonderoga.  —  Opinion  of  the  Troops 
there.  —  Major  John  Brown's  Second  Scout  in  Canada.  —  Returning,  he  urges  an 
immediate  Advance.  —  Appointed  to  command  the  Lake  Fleet.  —  Hastens  the 
March  of  the  Army.  —  Siege  of  St.  John's  commences.  —  Major  Brown  again 
sent  to  Canada.  —  Reports  to  Schuyler.  —  Major  Brown  the  first  to  lead  a 
Detachment  into  Canada.  —  Captures  Stores  near  Chamblee.  —  Unsuccessful 
Plan  to  capture  Montreal.  —  Takes  Fort  Chamblee.  —  St.  John's  surrenders.  — 
Col.  Easton's  Regiment  advances  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  —  Entrenches  at  Sorel. 
—  Its  Sufferings.  —  Blockades  the  British  Fleet.  —  Brilliant  Services  of  the  Pitts- 
field  Officers  acknowledged.  —  Close  of  the  Campaign.  —  Col.  Patterson's 
Regiment  at  Cambridge.  —  Extraordinary  Transmission  of  Sounds. 

r  1 1HE  rivalry  which  attended  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  its 
-L  dependencies  was  not  merely  for  the  command  of  a  few  hun- 
dred men  in  retired  posts  upon  the  lakes.  The  American  army  had 
no  more  restless  spirits  than  those  who  met  in  that  old  historic  for- 
tress ;  and,  to  the  imagination  of  each,  it  was  the  gateway  to  a 
grand  campaign,  soon  to  open,  in  which  they  foresaw  unwonted 
opportunities  of  distinguishing  themselves. 

John  Brown  had  observed,  on  his  first  visit  to  Canada,  that  the 
countenance  of  a  continental  army  was  essential  to  the  party  there 
in  league  with  the  patriots ;  and  he  considered  the  earliest  possible 
moment  the  best  for  a  march  to  Montreal.  Allen  and  Easton  par- 
took of  the  same  ideas ;  and  no  less  so  did  Arnold,  to  whose 
quick  perception  they  would  have  been  suggested  by  the  possession 
of  Lake  Champlain,  if  they  had  not  been  before  conceived. 

226 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  227 

It  was  plain  that  Gen.  Carleton  could  not  permit  the  Americans 
quietly  to  retain  possession  of  the  advantages  they  had  gained ;  and 
the  first  plan  to  anticipate  his  movements  was  a  removal  of  the 
armament  from  the  newly-acquired  works  to  safer  places  of  deposit. 
But  this  weak  policy  was  quickly  abandoned ;  and,  from  the  deter- 
mination to  hold  and  strengthen  the  forts,  the  advance  was  rapid  to 
the  purpose  of  operating  from  them  against  Canada.  This  was,  in- 
deed, the  dream  of  Allen  and  Arnold,  Brown  and  Easton,  from  the 
beginning. 

The  first  distinct  recommendation  of  the  invasion  of  Canada,  of 
which  we  have  record,  was  that  of  Ethan  Allen  to  the  New-York 
Congress  on  the  2d  of  June.  But  Col.  Easton  was  at  least  as 
early  in  advising  the  measure ;  for,  in  a  letter  of  June  6  to  the 
Massachusetts  Congress,  —  referring  to  a  previous  communication, 
made  probably  during  his  visit  to  Watertown  in  the  middle  of 
May,  —  he  wrote,  "  I  still  retain  my  sentiments,  that  policy  de- 
mands that  the  Colonies  should  advance  an  army  of  two  or  three 
thousand  men  into  Canada,  and  environ  Montreal."1 

In  June,  Philip  Schuyler,  a  distinguished  New-York  officer  of 
former  wars,  was,  upon  the  recommendation  of  his  colony,  appoint- 
ed a  major-general  of  the  Continental  Army,  and  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  Northern  Department.  After  some  delay  at  New 
York  and  Albany  in  making  arrangements  for  supplies,  he  reached 
Ticonderoga  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  July,  and  found  the 
garrison  to  consist  of  a  thousand  Connecticut  men  under  Col. 
Hinman,  and  Col.  Easton's  small  Berkshire  corps.  Of  the  six  in- 
complete companies  which  composed  the  latter,  one  contained 
twenty-seven  Pittsfield  men,  —  including  its  officers,  Capt.  James 
Noble  and  Lieuts.  Joel  Dickinson  and  John  Hitchcock.  The 
quartermaster,  William  C.  Stanley,  was  also  from  Pittsfield.  Col. 


1  In  a  letter  of  May  30,  Col.  Easton  had  "  hinted  to  their  honors  "  his  willing- 
ness "  to  serve  his  country  in  the  capacity  he  stood  in  at  home ;  i.  e.,  with  the  rank 
of  colonel.  "  Should  you,"  he  added,  "  gratify  me  with  the  command  of  a  regi- 
ment for  the  fortifying  and  garrisoning  said  fortress,"  [Ticonderoga],  "you 
may  depend  upon  my  most  faithful  exertions  to  defend  it  against  the  whole  weight 
of  Canada,  and  on  the  most  punctual  observance  of  your  orders.  And  I  shall  be 
ready  to  make  such  further  acquisitions  as  shall  be  in  my  power,  consistent  with 
wisdom  and  prudence,  for  the  safety  of  what  are  already  made,  that  you,  in  your 
wisdom,  shall  direct."  2 

a  Jour.  Prov.  Con.,  p.  713. 


228  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Easton  and  Major  Brown  were  absent,  probably  attempting  to  in- 
crease their  force. 

To  Gen.  Schuyler,  the  garrison  appeared  "  good-looking  people, 
and  decent  in  their  deportment;  not  lacking  in  courage,"  but 
with  a  shocking  laxity  of  discipline.  The  sentinel  on  duty  when 
he  arrived  at  the  landing,  on  being  informed  that  the  general  was 
in  the  boat,  did  not  hesitate  to  leave  his  post,  to  make  a  vain  at- 
tempt to  rouse  his  companions  sleeping  soundly  by  the  watch-fire. 
The  new  commander  met  a  similar  experience  at  other  posts  of  the 
guard ;  but  he,  nevertheless,  thought  he  could  make  excellent 
soldiers  out  of  the  Connecticut  and  Berkshire  levies  "  as  soon  as 
he  could  get  the  better  of  that  nonchalance  of  theirs."  * 

But  Schuyler  had  small  opportunity  to  make  good  soldiers 
of  raw  militia-men.  It  was  well  understood  that  Gen.  Carleton 
was  meditating  an  attempt  to  regain  the  command  of  the  lakes, 
with  a  view  to  the  invasion  of  the  countiy  below;  and  it  was 
feared  that  the  incursion  was  only  delayed  in  order  to  obtain  the 
alliance  of  the  savages.  As  well,  therefore,  to  anticipate  this 
movement,  as  to  take  advantage  of  the  favorable  disposition 
reported  to  exist  among  certain  classes  in  Canada,  the  immediate 
advance  into  that  Province  of  such  a  corps  as  had  been  suggested 
by  Cols.  Allen  and  Easton  was  urged  on  every  hand. 

Men  and  material  for  such  an  enterprise  were,  however,  tardily 
supplied  ;  and  the  department  commander  was,  moreover,  greatly 
perplexed  by  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  reliable  information  from 
the  proposed  field  of  operations,  in  which  all  reasonable  hope  of 
success  depended  upon  conditions  of  which  he  was  profoundly 
ignorant.  On  the  21st  of  July,  he  wrote  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  that  the  only  man  upon  whom  he  could  rely  to  proceed 
to  Canada  had  suddenly  fallen  ill;2  but,  about  that  time,  Major 
Brown  returned  to  head-quarters,  and,  on  the  24th,  set  out 
on  his  second  visit  to  Canada,  commissioned  to  obtain  the 
fullest  intelligence  of  the  military  preparations  making  by  the 
king's  troops,  the  Canadians,  and  the  Indians ;  to  learn  the  situa- 
tion of  St.  John's,  Chamblee,  Montreal,  and  Quebec ;  and  the  number 
of  troops  with  which  each  was  garrisoned,  whether  any  re-enforce- 
ments had  come  to  the  Province;  whether  the  Canadians  designed 

1  Schuyler  to  Washington,  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  ii.  p.  1085. 

2  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  ii.  p.  1302. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  229 

dng  up  arras  against  the  Colonies  ;  and  whatever  else  it  was  of 
>nsequence  that  an  invading  general  should  know."1 
Major  Brown  took  with  him  four  men,  one  of  them  a  French 
Canadian,  and  reached  the  border  in  six  days,  after  a  tedious  march, 
on  the  west  of  Lake  Champlain,  through  a  vast  swamp,  in  whose 
dank  recesses  the  party  were  compelled  to  camp  three  nights.  Issu- 
suing  from  this  comfortless  tract,  and  assuming  the  guise  of  a  horse- 
dealer,  he  penetrated  the  country,  remained  four  days,  and  obtained 
a  great  amount  of  information,  which  proved  correct,  and  of  untold 
value  to  the  army.  The  kindness  of  the  French  Canadians,  while 
he  was  thus  engaged,  Major  Brown  spoke  of  as  "  indescribable ;" 
and  he  confessed,  that,  but  for  their  protection,  he  must  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  shrewd  country-people  did  not, 
nevertheless,  fail  to  observe  that  "he  was  an  odd  sort  of  jockey, 
who  never  got  a  nag  to  his  liking;"  and  some  fellow,  not  so  dis- 
creet as  his  neighbors,  or  less  well  disposed,  communicated  his 
suspicions  to  the  military  police.  The  result  was,  a  large  squad 
of  red-coats  surrounded  the  house  where  the  major  lodged.  He, 
however,  contrived  to  escape  through  a  back  window,  and  make 
good  his  flight,  although  hotly  pursued  for  two  days.  Two  scouts, 
of  fifty  men  each,  were  sent  after  him ;  but,  being  kept  accurately 
informed  of  their  movements  by  the  friendly  Canadians,  he  evaded 
both,  and  got  out  of  the  country  on  the  3d  of  August.  A  further 
flight  of  three  days  brought  him  to  the  Bay  of  Missisquoi,  where 
he  found  a  small  canoe,  with  which  he  proceeded  up  the  lake,  and 
arrived  at  Crown  Point  on  the  10th, — just  one  day  later  than  he 
had  fixed  with  Gen.  Schuyler  for  his  return. 

What  Major  Brown  had  learned  in  Canada  rendered  him  still 
more  impatient  of  delay.  Writing,  four  days  after  his  arrival  at 
Crown  Point,  to  Gov.  Trumbull,  of  the  Canadians  and  their  affairs, 
he  said,  — 

"  They  wish  and  long  for  nothing  more  than  to  see  us  penetrate  their 
country  with  an  army.  They  engage  to  supply  us  with  every  thing  in  their 
power.  .  .  .  Now  is  the  tune  to  carry  Canada.  It  may  be  done  with 
great  ease  and  little  cost ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  the  Canadians  would  join  us. 
Should  a  large  [British]  re-enforcement  arrive  in  Canada,  it  would  turn 
the  scale  immediately.  The  inhabitants  must  then  take  up  arms,  or  be 
ruined.  It  seems  that  some  evil  planet  has  reigned  in  this  quarter  this  year ; 

1  Maj.  Brown  to  Gov.  Trumbull,  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iv.  p.  135. 


230  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

for  notwithstanding  the  season  is  far  advanced,  and  a  fine  opportunity  presents 
for  making  ourselves  masters  of  a  country  with  the  greatest  ease,  which  I  fear 
may  cost  us  much  blood  and  treasure  if  delayed,  in  New  York  [they] 
have  played  a  queer  part,  and  are  determined  to  defeat  us  if  in  their  power. 
They  have  failed  us  both  in  men  and  supplies." 

The  evil  planet  continued  to  reign.  New  York  delayed,  and 
finally  in  great  part  withheld,  her  promised  contingent,  in  order  to 
hold  her  own  Tories  in  check.  Massachusetts,  absorbed  in  the 
siege  of  Boston,  furnished  to  the  all-important  northern  expedition 
only  the  small  corps  which  Col.  Easton  could  raise  in  Berkshire, 
after  the  county  had  already  sent  two  regiments  to  Cambridge.  It 
numbered  barely  two  hundred  men,  of  whom  fifty-three  were  from 
Pittsfield,  which  early  in  August  had  sent  a  second  company  of 
twenty-four  men,  including  its  officers,  —  Capt.  Eli  Root,  Lieuts. 
Stephen  Crofoot  and  James  Easton,  jun. 

Connecticut,  threatened  with  an  invasion  of  her  coast,  furnished 
over  a  thousand  men,  —  less  than  she  wished,  but  all  that  she 
could  safely  spare.  The  troops  from  all  the  colonies  were  imper- 
fectly armed,  and  miserably  provided  wjth  the  most  necessary 
equipments  and  stores.  Illness  prevailed,  both  from  this  cause  and 
from  lack  of  the  restraints  of  discipline.  The  regiments  of  Cols. 
Hinman  and  Easton  returned  a  startling  proportion  of  sick,  —  the 
latter  more  than  one  third  of  its  entire  number. 

Nevertheless,  the  last  of  August  found  Schuyler,  weak  and  ill 
appointed  as  his  army  was,  eager  for  advance  and  hopeful  of  success. 
There  might,  however,  have  been  still  further  delay,  had  it  not 
been  for  information  received  from  Major  Brown,  who,  after  his 
return  from  his  Canadian  mission,  had  immediately  been  placed  in 
command  of  the  flotilla  upon  the  lake,  against  which  a  formidable 
antagonist  was  known  to  be  preparing  on  the  Sorel,  at  St.  Johns.1 

Among  the  things  which  he  had  accomplished  in  Canada,  one 
of  the  most  valuable  was  to  open  correspondence  with  James 
Livingston,  an  intelligent,  active,  and  patriotic  gentleman,  then 
resident  at  Chamblee,  who  thenceforward  furnished  the  most 
correct,  timely,  and  important  information  to  the  American  com- 
manders. 

Major  Brown  now  ventured  personally  on  a  scout,  as  far  as  the 


1  The  Sorel  is  often  laid  down,  especially  in  modern  maps,  as  the  River  Riche- 
lieu, and  sometimes  as  the  St.  Johns. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  231 

Isle  Aux-Noix,1  whence  he  sent  messengers  to  his  friend  Livingston, 
who  returned  with  intelligence  upon  the  strength  of  which  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  Gen.  Montgomery,  who  had  arrived  at  Crown 
Point,  and  was  acting  as  Schuyler's  lieutenant,  for  the  "  dictatorial 
style  of  which " 2  he  made  the  extreme  exigency  of  the  occasion 
his  apology.  It  represented  that  the  vessels  building  on  the  Sorel 
were  in  such  a  state  of  forwardness,  and  were  so  formidable  in  their 
armament,  that  unless  the  army  moved  within  ten  days,  at  the 
latest,  it  would  be  necessary  to  fortify  either  at  Isle  Aux-Noix,  or, 
better  in  his  opinion,  at  Windmill  Point,8  otherwise  there  would 
be  the  most  imminent  danger  that  the  British  fleet  would  sweep 
the  lake,  and  compel  the  abandonment  of  the  expedition  against 
Canada  for  that  year  at  least. 

This  letter  hastened  affairs  at  Crown  Point;  and  on  the  31st  of 
August,  seven  days  from  its  date,  Gen.  Montgomery  embarked 
with  twelve  hundred  men ;  and,  Schuyler  having  overtaken  him, 
the  army  appeared  before  St.  Johns  on  the  6th  of  September, 
nearly  two  thousand  strong. 

The  siege  proved  long  and  tedious.  We  shall,  of  course,  only 
be  expected  to  recite  the  services  of  the  Pittsfield  soldiery  in  con- 
nection with  it,  and  that  portion  of  the  general  story  which  is 
necessary  to  their  comprehension. 

Arrived  before  St.  Johns,  Gen.  Schuyler  began  to  manifest  that 
irresolution  and  timidity  in  meeting  difficulties  of  the  military  sit- 
uation, which,  in  spite  of  his  undoubted  personal  bravery,  so  often 
fatally  marred  his  northern  campaigns,  and  led  the  people  of  Berk- 
shire to  distrust,  not  only  his  capacity,  but  his  fidelity.  The 
Americans  landed  on  the  6th  of  September,  were  fired  upon 
without  effect  by  the  garrison,  and  had  a  slight  skirmish  with  a 
small  party  of  Indians.  In  the  evening,  "  a  man  who  appeared  to 
be  friendly  and  intelligent,"  visited  the  general :  stating  that  the 
whole  British  force  in  Canada,  except  fifty,  were  in  garrison  at 

1  The  Isle  Aux-Noix  is  a  small,  low  island  in  the  Sorel,  a  few  miles  below  St. 
Johns.     It  is  an  important  locality  in  our  story.    It  is  now  strongly  fortified  by 
the  British  Government. 

2  Am.  ^j-.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  468.     There  is  nothing  disrespectful  or  assuming 
in  the  letter. 

8  The  Windmill  Point  here  alluded  to  is  at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Champlain 
into  the  Sorel,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  point  of  the  same  name  on 
the  west  side  of  the  lake. 


232  HISTORY    OF   PITTSFIELD. 

St.  Johns,  which,  as  well  as  Chamblee,  he  represented  to  be 
strongly  fortified,  and  well  prepared  for  a  siege ;  that  a  hundred 
Indians  were  in  the  fort,  and  a  large  body  under  Sir  John  Johnson 
hovering  near ;  that  a  sixteen-gun  vessel  was  at  St.  John's,  ready 
to  weigh  anchor ;  and  that  not  a  single  Canadian  would  join  the 
"insurgent  standard."-1  The  greater  part  of  this  stuff  was  after- 
wards proved  to  be  pure  invention :  but  Schuyler  gave  it  full 
credence ;  and  a  Council  of  War,  to  whom  it  was  submitted,  deter- 
mined to  fall  back  to  Isle  Aux-Noix.  to  await  re-enforcements,  and 
prevent  the  passage  into  the  lake  of  the  sixteen-gun  ship,  which 
would  have  effectually  cut  them  off. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring,  Major  Brown  was  absent ; 
having  been  sent  by  Schuyler,  with  Ethan  Allen  and  some  inter- 
preters, to  go  through  the  woods  into  Canada,  and  there  disseminate 
among  the  people  his  address  assuring  them  that  the  designs  of 
the  Americans  in  entering  their  country  were  solely  against  the 
English  garrisons,  and  not  at  all  against  the  property,  religion,  or 
liberties  of  the  inhabitants. 

This  arduous  and  dangerous  service  having  been  faithfully  and 
successfully  performed,  Col.  Allen  and  Major  Brown  found  Living- 
ston, who  collected  a  small  body  of  Canadian  recruits,  with  which 
they  attempted,  on  the  8th,  to  return  to  the  army,  but  were 
deterred  by  learning  that  a  body  of  Indians  lay  in  wait  for  them. 
Major  Brown,  however,  made  his  way  through,  with  a  communica- 
tion from  Livingston,  demanding  a  party  of  men  from  Schuyler's 
army  to  cut  off  communication  between  St.  Johns  and  the  coun- 
try ;  explaining  his  position  at  St.  Terese,  and  expressing  his  belief, 
that,  on  the  arrival  of  the  men  he  asked  for,  they  would  be  joined 
by  a  considei-able  number  of  Canadians.2 

In  compliance  with  this  request,  Col.  Ritzema  was  ordered  to 
proceed,  on  the  10th,  to  a  point  on  the  road  from  La  Prairie  to 
St.  Johns,  as  near  to  the  latte.r  place  as  he  deemed  prudent ;  but 
a  succession  of  disgraceful  panics  thwarted  the  execution  of  the 
plan. 

On  the  16th,  Gen.  Schuyler,  compelled  by  prolonged  ill  health, 
returned  to  Ticonderoga.  But  it  had  previously  been  arranged, 
that,  on  the  15th,  a  second  advance  upon  St.  Johns  shoul^be  com- 

1  Lossing's  Field-book  of  the  Revolution,  vol.  i.  p.  169. 

2  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  Hi.  p.  740. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  233 

menced  by  the  army  led  by  Montgomery.  In  anticipation  of  this 
movement,  that  general,  on  the  day  before  that  assigned  for  its 
execution,  despatched  Major  Brown,  with  one  hundred  Americans 
and  thirty-four  Canadians,  towards  Chamblee,  in  order  to  keep  up 
the  spirits  of  their  friends  in  that  quarter. 

This  little  detachment  was  the  first  of  the  American  army 
which  could  be  said  to  have  entered  Canada;  and,  with  it,  Major 
Brown  penetrated  to  the  gates  of  Chamblee.  There  he  left  one- 
half  his  force  ;  while,  with  the  remainder,  he  cut  off  communication 
between  St.  Johns  and  the  interior,  took  several  prisoners,  and 
intercepted  eight  carts,  going  to  the  fort,  laden  with  rum  and 
gun-carriages  for  the  armed  vessels  which  threatened  the  lake. 
Gen.  Montgomery's  departure  from  Isle  Aux-Noix  was  delayed 
by  a  storm  until  the  17th,  on  the  evening  of  which  day  he 
encamped  before  St.  Johns.  The  next  morning,  he  crossed 
with  five  hundred  men  to  the  north  side  of  the  Sorel,  where  he 
had  instructed  Major  Brown  to  rejoin  him.  But  Brown,  trusting 
to  his  earlier  arrival,  had  imprudently  thrown  his  little  company 
before  a  superior  force  of  king's  troops,  and  been  repulsed.  Mont- 
gomery's corps,  which  had  been  retarded  by  the  inexperience  of 
its  raw  recruits  in  marching,  came  up  in  a  few  hours :  the  king's 
troops  were,  in  their  turn,  defeated ;  and  the  captures,  which  Major 
Brown  had  bethought  himself  to  hide  in  the  woods  before  ensra- 

O  O 

ging  in  his  unsuccessful  conflict,  were  secured.1 

The  siege  of  St.  Johns  having  been  formally  established,  Ethan 
Allen  and  Major  Brown  were  ordered  to  La  Prairie  and  Longueil 
to  recruit  corps  of  Canadians  for  the  American  army,  —  a  service  in 
which  James  Livingston  had  already  been  so  successful  as  to  be 
commended  by  Montgomery  to  Congress. 

Allen  and  Brown  also  had  the  most  gratifying  and  encouraging 
success  in  this  service;  and  Major  Brown  was,  moreover,  lucky 
enough  to  take  a  quantity  of  stores  designed  for  the  Indians,  who 
had  been  induced  by  Gov.  Carleton  to  go  to  La  Prairie  to  operate 
against  the  Americans.2  On  the  20th  of  September,  Allen  had 
two  hundred  and  fifty  Canadians  under  arms,  and  boasted  to 
Montgomery,  that,  in  a  week  or  two,  he  could  obtain  one  or  two 
thousand.  Major  Brown  had  also  enlisted  between  two  and  three 
hundred.  Every  thing  was  going  prosperously,  and  with  the  most 

1  Montgomery  to  Schuyler,  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  797. 

2  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  840. 


234  HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

encouraging  promise,  when  the  all-important  work  was  interrupted 
by  the  unhappy  issue  »f  one  of  those  audacious  but  tempting 
enterprises,  opportunities  for  which  Allen  and  Brown  seem  to 
have  been  incapable  of  resisting. 

Allen  wrote  to  Montgomery,  on  the  20th  of  September,  that  he 
would  join  him  in  three  days  with  five  hundred  men,  after  which, 
if  it  were  necessary,  he  would  return  and  recruit.  "  By  the 
Lord  !  "  said  he,  "  I  can  raise  three  times  the  number  of  our  army 
in  Canada,  provided  you  continue  the  siege :  it  all  depends  upon 
that."  He  was,  in  fact,  crazed  with  the  desire  to  take  part  per- 
sonally in  the  operations  against  St.  John's ; 1  and,  on  the  24th,  he 
set  out  for  that  place  with  a  guard  of  eighty  men.  He  had  gone, 
however,  but  about  two  miles  from  Longueil,  when  he  was  met  on 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  nearly  opposite  to  Montreal,  by 
Major  Brown,  who  proposed  a  plan  for  the  surprise  of  that  city, 
which  he  thought  could  be  easily  effected  by  the  combined  action 
of  their  forces.  No  project  could  have  been  more  fascinating 
to  the  captor  of  Ticonderoga;  and  although,  upon  its  failure, 
it  was  denounced  as  rash  and  impracticable,  it  would  probably 
have  succeeded,  had  neither  of  the  parties  failed  to  meet  his 
engagement.2 

The  proposition  was  readily  assented  to,  and  a  plan  of  operations 
agreed  upon.  Allen,  returning  to  Longueil,  was  to  procure  canoes, 
and  cross  the  river  at  night,  a  little  below  the  city.  At  a  point  a 
little  above  it,  Brown  was  to  cross,  with  his  corps  of  two  hundred 
men ;  and,  upon  the  signal  of  three  huzzas  from  the  latter  party, 
a  simultaneous  attack  was  to  be  made.  The  night  was  so  rough, 
and  the  canoes  to  be  obtained  were  so  small  and  frail,  that  Brown 
supposed  Allen  would  defer  the  attempt.  At  the  appointed  time, 
however,  the  latter  having,  by  the  addition  of  thirty  Anglo-Amer- 
icans, increased  his  force  to  one  hundred  and  ten  men,  was  over 
the  river,  and  impatiently  waiting  the  signal  for  action.  He  con- 
tinued to  expect  the  arrival  of  the  promised  co-operating  corps 
until  the  sun  was  two  hours  high,  when  he  "  began  to  suspect  that 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  754. 

2  Montgomery,  to  whom  the  design  was  communicated  too  late  for  his  inter- 
ference in  it,  although  distrusting  its  success,  did  not  absolutely  condemn  it.     In 
a  letter  to  Schuyler,  he  wrote,  "  Allen,  Warner,  and  Brown  .  .  .  have  a  project 
for  making  an  attempt  upon  Montreal.    I  fear  the  troops  are  not  fit  for  it.     Mr. 
Carleton  has  certainly  left  that  town,  and  it  is  in  a  very  defenceless  condition." 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  235 

he  was  in  a premunire" *  It  was  then  too  late  to  retreat.  A  pris- 
oner had  escaped  from  his  guards,  and  given  the  alarm  in  the  city  ; 
the  boats  which  had  brought  them  over  were  insufficient  to  carrv 
one-third  of  Allen's  men  back ;  and,  although  all  but  thirty-eight 
finally  deserted  him,  he  could  not  reconcile  it  with  his  sense  of 
honor  to  abandon  any.  He  therefore  sent  off  messengers  to  Major 
Brown  and  a  Mr.  Walker,  asking  aid ;  and  stood  his  ground  man- 
fully, for  an  hour  and  three-quarters,  when  attacked  by  about  forty 
regulars,  and  a  rabble  hundred  or  two  of  armed  citizens.  A  smart 
skirmish  occurred,  with  some  loss  of  life  on  each  side ;  but,  no 
re-enforcements  appearing,  the  hero  of  Ticonderoga  was  obliged  to 
capitulate,  and,  in  violation  of  the  terms  of  his  surrender,  to  enter 
upon  that  long  and  cruel  imprisonment  which  has  awakened  the 
sympathy  of  every  reader  of  Revolutionary  story. 

Allen  attributed  his  disaster  to  Major  Brown's  failure  to  keep 
his  engagement ;  but  the  commander-in-chief,  and  all  the  officers 
who  mentioned  the  subject  in  their  correspondence,  fixed  the 
blame  upon  his  own  rashness  and  obstinacy.  This,  to  be  sure, 
was  not  an  absolutely  fair  test,  as  Allen's  associates  did  not  mani- 
fest the  same  indulgence  towards  his  infirmities  of  temper, 
which  posterity,  with  a  grateful  memory  of  his  heroic  virtues, 
has  accorded.  But,  with  whatever  undue  harshness  of  judg- 
ment Allen's  contemporaries  may  have  visited  his  leadership  in 
this  affair,  the  uniform  conduct  of  John  Brown  compels  us  to 
believe,  that,  if  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  were  known,  they 
would  fully  justify  his  course.  If  he  had  failings  as  a  commander, 
they  certainly  did  not  lie  in  the  direction  of  excessive  prudence, 
sluggishness  in  action,  or  remissness  in  duty.  Of  treachery,  he 
was  incapable. 

September  passed,  and  the  siege  of  St.  Johns  advanced  but 
slowly.  Discontent  began  to  show  itself  in  the  army,  which  con- 
stantly embarrassed  Montgomery  by  its  disposition  to  interfere 
with  his  proper  functions.  About  the  12th  of  October,  he  was 
informed  by  Major  Brown  that  the  general  dissatisfaction  was  so 
great,  that,  unless  something  was  soon  done  to  allay  it,  there  was 
danger  that  it  would  break  out  in  open  mutiny. 

He  therefore  called  a  council  of  war,  in  which  he  found  his  own 
opinion  opposed  to  that  of  every  field-officer  present.  His  views 

1  Allen's  narrative. 


236  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

were  unchanged  by  this  result ;  but,  while  deeply  regretting  the 
decision  of  the  council,  he  declared  that  he  would  not  oppose  the 
general  sense  of  the  array,  but  enforce  it  by  every  effort  in  his 
power.1  And  Montgomery  was  always  as  good  as  his  word. 

But  the  siege  continued  to  be  retarded,  as  it  had  all  along  been, 
by  the  want  of  ammunition,  and  particularly  of  powder.  It 
was  even  feared  that  this  cause  would  compel  the  abandonment 
of  the  expedition  altogether.  In  this  dilemma,  Schuyler,  on  the  29th 
of  September,  made  an  earnest  application  to  the  New-York  Con- 
gress for  at  least  five  tons,  to  be  sent  forthwith  to  St.  Johns.  The 
Congress  exerted  itself  zealously;  but  all  that  it  could  procure 
from  its  own  resources  was  fourteen  hundred  pounds,  and  this 
only  by  resorting  to  the  dangerous  expedient  of  exhausting  the 
county  arsenals  of  the  reserve  stores,  which  they  were,  by  law, 
required  to  keep.  Gov.  Trumbull,  who  was  asked  for  a  loan,  had 
none  to  spare.  The  Continental  Congress,  "learning  that  Gen. 
Schuyler  was  in  great  distress  for  powder,  ordered  a  single  ton  to 
be  sent  him  from  New-York  City."  But  all  which  he  received 
from  any  source  furnished  Montgomery  but  a  temporary  supply; 
and  a  few  days  from  the  18th  of  October  would  have  entirely 
exhausted  it.2 

Happily,  a  mode  of  relieving  the  army  from  this  serious  strait 
was  suggested  to  Major  Brown  ;  affording  him  an  opportunity  for 
another  of  those  daring  and  dashing  exploits  in  which  he  delighted, 
and  which  so  often  proved  of  signal  service  to  the  country.  At 
Chamblee,  on  the  Sorel,  stood  a  strongly-constructed  fort,  contain- 
ing a  considerable  amount  of  stores,  and  a  large  quantity  of  pow- 
der, but  feebly  armed  and  garrisoned.  Carleton  believed  that  the 
Americans  could  not  approach  its  walls  with  artillery,  unless  they 
first  captured  St.  Johns,  which  commanded  the  river  twelve  miles 
above.8  But  some  of  Livingston's  Canadian  recruits  —  experi- 
enced oarsmen  —  volunteered  to  place  cannon  upon  bateaux, 
and  take  them  at  night  past  the  fortifications  of  the  latter  place. 
Their  offer  was  accepted  ;  and,  on  a  dark  night,  the  plan  was  suc- 
cessfully put  in  execution.  Major  Brown  had  been  intrusted  by 
Montgomery  with  the  charge  of  the  undertaking,  and  personally 

1  Am.  Ar.,  41h  ser.  vol.  iii.  pp.  1097-8. 

2  Schuyler  to  Washington,  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  1095. 

8  The  River  Sorel  descends  from  Lake  Champlain  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  237 

directed  and  took  part  in  the  perilous  feat  of  the  boatmen.  At 
the  head  of  the  Chamblee  Rapids,  the  guns  were  mounted  upon 
carriages,  and  soon  placed  in  position  for  attack.  Major  Living- 
ston re-enforced  the  besiegers  with  three  hundred  Canadians, — 
there  were  but  fifty  Americans  engaged  in  the  affair;  and  Major 
Stopford,  the  commander  of  the  fort,  was  surprised  to  find  it  closely 
invested.  He  had  no  reason  to  expect  relief — but  among  the 
articles  of  capitulation  which  he  proposed  to  Major  Brown  was 
one  containing  the  extraordinary  condition  that  the  garrison  should 
not  be  made  prisoners,  but  be  permitted  to  march  out  unmolested, 
drums  beating,  colors  flying,  with  their  arms,  accoutrements,  and 
twenty-four  rounds  of  ammunition  each,  and  carts  and  provisions 
sufficient  to  pass  by  the  shortest  route  to  Montreal,  or  any  other 
place  in  that  Province  at  the  option  of  Major  Stopford. 


VIEW  OF  FORT  CHAMBLEE. 


This  proposition  was  of  course  entirely  inadmissible ;  and  Major 
Brown,  at  once  declining  it,  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  place 
upon  the  usual  terms  granted  in  honorable  warfare.  There  was 
no  alternative  but  to  accede  to  this,  or  sustain  an  assault  without 
hope  of  making  a  successful  defence ;  and  the  fort  was  given  up, 
with  its  garrison,  on  the  morning  after  the  demand,  Oct.  19. 

One  major,  three  captains,  three  lieutenants,  a  commissary,  and  a 
surgeon,  with  eighty-three  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates 
of  the  Royal  Fusileers,  were  made  prisoners.  The  stores  found  in 
the  fort  were  eighty  barrels  of  flour,  eleven  barrels  of  rice,  seven 
barrels  of  peas,  six  firkins  of  butter,  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
barrels  of  pork,  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  barrels  of  gunpow- 
der, three  hundred  swivel-shot,  one  box  of  musket-shot,  six  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  sixty-four  musket  cartridges,  one  hundred 


238  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

and  fifty-four  stand  of  French  arms,  three  royal  mortars,  sixty-one 
shells,  five  hundred  hand-grenades,  rigging  for  at  least  three  ves- 
sels, and  the  arms  and  accoutrements  of  the  eighty-three  Fusileers. 
Gen.  Montgomery  was  overjoyed  at  this  glorious  acquisition,  which 
he  foresaw  would  give  an  early  and  successful  termination  to  the 
lingering  siege  of  St.  Johns.  He  announced  it  to  Gen.  Schuyler 
in  the  following  terms :  — 

"  DEAR  GENERAL,  —  I  have  the  pleasure  to  acquaint  you  with  the  sur- 
render of  Chamblee  to  Majors  Brown  and  Livingston.  ...  I  send  you 
the  colors  of  the  Seventh  Regiment  and  a  list  of  stores  taken.  Major  Brown 
assures  me  we  have  gotten  six  tons  of  powder,  which,  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  will  do  our  business  here.  Major  Brown  offered  bis  service  on  this 
occasion.  Upon  this  and  all  occasions,  I  have  found  him  active  and  intelli- 
gent." 

A  report  of  the  achievement  was  transmitted  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  which  instructed  a  delegation  it  was  about  sending  to 
the  Northern  army,  to  assure  Majors  Brown  and  Livingston  "  that 
the  Congress  had  a  just  sense  of  their  important  services,  and  would 
take  the  first  proper  opportunity  to  reward  them."  *  Livingston 
was  made  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Canadians.  Brown  waited 
for  his  reward. 

St.  Johns  surrendered  on  the  2d.  Both  during  the  siege,  and 
previously  while  in  camp  at  Ticonderoga,  Col.  Easton's  regiment 
suffered  severely  from  sickness,  induced  by  insufficient  shelter, 
improper  food,  and  lack  of  medical  stores.  One  hundred  and 
sixteen  of  its  men  were  sent  home,,  invalided,  between  the  20th  of 
July  and  the  25th  of  September;  and  the  returns  of  the  12th  of 
October  carried  up  the  number  to  one  hundred  and  forty-three. 
This  loss  had  been  in  some  measure  repaired  by  new  recruits, 
of  whom  one  hundred  and  forty  were  sent  forward  at  one  time ; 
and,  at  the  close  of  the  siege  of  St.  Johns,  the  regiment  numbered 
about  three  hundred  men.  We  have  no  certain  knowledge  of 
what  its  services  were  up  to  that  time;  but  Major  Brown  had  been 
,  almost  constantly  employed  on  detached  and  adventurous  duty,  to 
aid  in  which,  he  would  naturally  have  selected  tried  men  from  his 
own  neighborhood,  except  when  Canadians  were  better  adapted  to 
the  work  in  hand. 

The  moment,  however,  that  the  surrender  of  St.  Johns  was  sure, 

1  Jour.  Cont.  Cong.,  Nov.  7,  1775. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  239 

Col.  Easton — Major  Brown  having  rejoined  him  —  pushed  his 
small  corps,  augmented  by  Livingston's  larger  regiment  of  Cana- 
dians, down  the  Sorel,  driving  before  him  Allen  McLean,  who, 
without  a  commission,  commanded  an  irregular  body  of  king's 
men.  McLean  attempted  to  intrench  at  the  point  in  the  St.  Law- 
rence formed  by  the  debouching  of  the  Sorel ;  but  was  driven  from 
his  works  by  Easton,  who  proceeded  at  once  to  complete  and 
strengthen  them.  In  a  few  days  they  were  mounted  with  three 
twelve-pounders,  one  nine,  and  two  sixes,  and  effectually  com- 
manded the  passage  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

All  the  night  of  the  6th,  Major  Brown  patrolled  the  north  side 
of  the  river  near  Montreal,  and  captured  several  prisoners,  from 
one  of  whom  he  learned  that  Gen.  Carleton  had  announced  to  the 
citizens  his  determination  to  quit  the  place  within  a  couple  of 
days ;  and  that  they  had  thereupon  resolved  to  apply  to  the  Amer- 
ican commander  for  protection.  This  intelligence  changed  the 
major's  intention  of  remaining  on  the  north  side,  to  raise  a  party 
and  cover  Montgomery's  landing ;  and,  returning  to  Sorel,  he  wrote 
to  the  general,  informing  him  what  he  had  learned,  and  begging 
to  be  permitted,  if  his  regiment  was  to  remain  at  Sorel,  "  to  have 
the  honor  of  entering  the  city  of  Montreal  with  the  army." 

Montgomery  marched  into  the  city  on  the  13th.  Carleton 
had,  the  night  before,  embarked  with  his  garrison,  certain  promi- 
nent loyalists,  and  such  stores  as  he  could  take,  on  board  a  fleet  of 
eleven  small  vessels,  with  the  expectation  of  dropping  down  the 
river  to  Quebec,  but  was  unable  to  pass  the  batteries  at  Sorel. 
On  the  17th,  he  was  still  engaged  in  vainly  attempting  to  ef- 
fect a  passage ;  and  Montgomery  wrote  that  Col.  Easton  not  only 
"  prevented  it,  bait  had  twice  compelled  him  to  weigh  anchor,  and 
move  up  the  river." 1  He  added  that  he  was  making  all  despatch 
to  attack  the  fleet  from  his  own  side.  It  capitulated  on  the  19th ; 
and,  with  it,  there  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans 
Gen.  Prescott,  —  infamous  for  his  ill-treatment  of  Ethan  Allen, — 
thirteen  other  officers,  one  hundred  and  twenty  privates,  and 
several  prominent  loyalist  gentlemen.  Gen.  Carleton,  in  a  boat 
with  muffled  oars,  succeeded  in  passing  the  batteries  under  cover 
of  an  unusually  dark  night.  Of  ordnance,  the  vessels  were  found 
to  contain  two  nine  and  two  six-pounders,  and  two  or  three 

1  Am.  AT.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  1633. 


240  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

smaller  guns ;  of  ammunition,  three  barrels  of  gunpowder,  a  large 
quantity  of  artillery  cartridges  and  ball ;  twenty-three  hundred 
musket  cartridges ;  of  small  arms,  eight  chests,  besides  those  borne 
by  the  prisoners;  of  other  stores,  seven  hundred  and  sixty  barrels 
of  flour,  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  barrels  of  beef,  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  firkins  of  butter,  two  hundred  pairs  of  shoes, 
a  quantity  of  entrenching  tools,  &c. 

"Col.  Easton's  detachment,"  wrote  Montgomery  to  Schuyler, 
"  while  employed  in  this  important  service  of  stopping  the  fleet, 
were  half  naked,  and  the  weather  was  very  severe.  I  was  afraid, 
not  only  that  they  might  grow  impatient,  and  relinquish  the 
business  in  hand,  but  I  saw  the  reluctance  the  troops  in  Montreal 
showed  to  quit  it.  ...  By  way  of  stimulant,  I  offered,  as  a  re- 
ward, all  public  stores  taken  in  the  vessels,  to  the  troops  who  went 
forward,  except  ammunitions  and  provisions."  But  this  stimulant 
induced  only  Bedel's  New-Hampshire  regiment  to  forsake  their 
comfortable  quarters  in  the  city,  to  share  the  labors  and  the  honors 
of  the  half-naked  and  almost  shelterless  Berkshire  men  at  Sorel. 

With  the  surrender  of  the  fleet  on  the  upper  St.  Lawrence,  the 
first  northern  campaign  ended  ;  for,  although  the  war  in  Canada 
was  prosecuted  with  little  interruption,  Arnold's  arrival  gave  to 
the  succeeding  operations  a  character  distinct  from  that  of  the 
advance  to  Montreal. 

The  brilliant  services  rendered  to  the  expedition  by  the  chief 
Pittsfield  officers  were  handsomely  acknowledged.  Montgomery 
wrote  to  Schuyler,  Nov.  22,  "  Col.  Easton  has  shown  so  much  zeal 
and  activity  in  the  important  service  he  has  been  employed  upon, 
that  I  think  myself  obliged  to  speak  of  him  in  the  warmest  terms 
of  acknowledgment ;  and,  as  his  character  suffered  in  the  public 
opinion  by  some  unfortunate  transaction  last  summer,1  I  hope 
you,  will  be  kind  enough  to  do  him  the  justice  which  his  conduct 
with  me  merits." 

Other  letters  in  which  Col.  Easton  was  eulogized  by  his  com- 
mander will  be  referred  to  in  another  connection.  For  Major 
Brown,  Montgomery  formed  the  warmest  friendship  and  esteem ; 
and  even  Schuyler  wrote  to  Congress  that  he  "  had  certainly,  in 
in  the  course  of  the  last  year,  done  extraordinary  services." 2 

1  Probably  this  refers  to  a  dispute  regarding  the  accounts  of  the  Ticonderoga 
expedition. 

2  Jour.  Cont.  Cong.,  Aug.  26,  1776. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  241 

In  October,  1776,  Cols.  James  Livingston  and  Timothy  Bedel, 
Major  Robert  Cochran,  and  Capts.  Gersham  Mott  and  William 
Satterlee  of  the  Northern  Army,  certified,  that,  during  the  campaign 
of  the  previous  year  in  Canada,  Major  John  Brown  "was  the 
most  active  man  in  the  army ;  being  employed  in  the  beginning 
of  the  campaign  in  •  long  tedious  scouts,  and,  in  the  latter  part, 
before  the  army  with  a  detachment.  Major  Brown  was  scarcely 
off  duty  day  or  night  during  the  campaign." 

Of  the  services  and  sufferings  of  the  other  officers  and  men  in 
Easton's  regiment,  Montgomery's  praises  were  earnest. 

While  their  brethren  were  thus  winning  honor  in  Canada,  Col. 
Patterson's  regiment  remained  with  the  army  employed  in  the 
siege  of  Boston,  and  built  Fort  No.  3  on  Prospect  Hill  in  Charles- 
town,1  which  it  also  garrisoned.  On  the  day  of  the  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  Patterson's  regiment,  with  three  others,  was  held  in 
reserve  for  the  protection  of  Cambridge;  and  late  in  the  after- 
noon, being  ordered  to  re-enforce  the  exhausted  defenders  of  the 
Hill,  failed  to  reach  the  lines  before  they  were  carried  by  the 
enemy. 

Some  time  in  November,  four  hundred  British  troops  landed  at 
Lechmere  Point,  now  East  Cambridge,  for  marauding  purposes, 
and  were  bravely  repulsed,  although  under  cover  of  a  frigate,  by 
an  American  force  to  which  Washington  paid  the  following  com- 
pliment: "  The  alacrity  of  the  riflemen  and  others  did  them  honor, 
to  which  Col.  Patterson's  regiment  and  some  others  are  equally 
entitled."  He  praised  them  again  in  the  general  orders  of  the 
next  day.2 

A  tradition  has  been  handed  down  in  Berkshire,  regarding  the 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  which,  strange  as  it  seems  at  first  thought, 
is  supported  by  such  abundant  and  indisputable  evidence,  that  we 
cannot  refuse  it  credence.  It  is  to  the  effect  that  the  cannonading 
from  the  British  fleet  was  distinctly  heard  by  many  persons  in 
Pittsfield,  and  elsewhere  among  the  hills.  At  Lee,  persons  digging 
a  well  heard  the  reports  with  peculiar  clearness.  In  Pittsfield, 
among  many  others  who  distinctly  heard  the  booming  of  the 
cannon,  were  Capts.  Israel  Dickinson,  Jared  Ingersol,  and  Hosea 
Merrill,  —  men  of  unquestioned  veracity.  By  placing  the  ear  near 

1  Now  Somerville. 

2  Frothingham's  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  268. 
18 


242  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  earth,  the  loudness  of  the  sounds  was  much  increased.  In 
considering  the  probable  truth  of  this  tradition,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  intervening  space  between  Charlestown  and 
Pittsfield  was,  in  1775,  free  from  the  disturbing  noises  of  railroads, 
manufactories,  and  cities,  which  now  abound.1 

1  Another  remarkable  instance  of  the  transmission  of  sounds  among  the  hills  oc- 
curred on  the  26th  of  November,  1822.  On  that  day,  Samuel  Charles,  an  Oneida 
Indian,  was  hung  at  Lenox  for  the  murder  of  a  negro  in  Richmond ;  and  the 
Berkshire  Greys,  a  Pittsfield  military  company,  attended  as  sheriff's  guard.  At 
the  hour  fixed  for  the  execution,  Dr.  Oliver  S.  Root  was  in  a  field,  near  where  the 
Medical  College  in  Pittsfield  now  stands,  when  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  drum  and 
fife  apparently  close  at  hand.  Surprised  at  the  early  return  of  the  Greys,  he  went 
to  the  brow  of  the  declivity  made  by  the  road  at  that  point,  expecting  to  see  them 
on  its  southern  slope,  but  was  still  more  surprised  when  he  found  no  signs  of  the 
company  there.  It  afterwards  appeared,  that  it  was  at  that  moment  just  leaving 
Gallows  Hill,  seven  miles  distant.  On  the  same  occasion,  fishing-parties  at  the 
north  end  of  Pontoosuc  Lake,  ten  miles  from  the  place  of  execution,  heard,  as  dis- 
tinctly as  though  in  the  next  street,  the  mournful  strains  as  the  procession  wended 
its  melancholy  way  to  the  gallows,  and  the  lively  notes  struck  up  on  the  return. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  seen  an  account  in  "  The  Springfield  Repub- 
lican," that  persons  in  that  city  heard  distinctly  the  sound  of  three  explosions, 
which,  following  each  other  in  rapid  succession,  recently  destroyed  a  powder-mill 
at  Poughkeepsie,  N.Y.  These  instances  go  far  to  remove  any  improbability 
which  might  otherwise  attach  to  the  old  tradition. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE   DECLARATION    OF   INDEPENDENCE.— THE  TORIES.— BATTLES  OF 
WHITE    PLAINS    AND    THE    DELAWARE. 

[1776-1777.] 

King  George's  Name  expunged  from  Military  Commissions.  —  The  Town  instructs 
its  Representative  in  Favor  of  Independence  and  a  Free  Republic.  —  Committees 
of  Correspondence,  etc.  —  Their  Rules  of  Practice.  —  The  Tories.  —  The  Hue 
and  Cry.  —  Hiding-place  of  the  Tories.  —  The  Ban  of  Community.  —  Its 
Euect  illustrated  by  an  Incident.  —  John  Graves  aids  the  Escape  of  a  Royal 
Officer,  and  is  punished  therefor.  —  An  ex-post  facto  Fright.  —  Infliction  of 
Confiscation  and  Banishment.  —  Case  of  Elisha  Jones  and  Others.  —  Enlist- 
ment of  a  Slave.  —  Woodbridge  Little  and  Israel  Stoddard.  —  Six  Tories 
induced  by  Energetic  Measures  to  take  the  Oath  of  Allegiance.  —  Anecdote  of  a 
Soldier  returned  from  a  British  Prison.  —  Mr.  Allen's  Diary  at  White  Plains. 
—  Patterson's  Regiment  rejoins  Washington.  —  Its  reduced  Condition. 

YOTED,  That  the  field-officers  proceed  to  regulate  the  North 
District  or  Regiment  with  the  erasement  of  George's 
name."  Such  was  the  quiet  resolution  by  which,  on  the  25th 
of  March,  1776,  —  more  than  three  months  previous  to  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  and  two  months  before  the  famous 
resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "that  the  exercise  of 
every  kind  of  authority  under  the  king  ought  to  be  suppressed," 
—  the  people  of  Pittsfield  signified  that  they  were  done  with  his 
Majesty  King  George  the  Third,  and  regarded  him  much  as  their 
Puritan  ancestors  did  "  the  man  Charles."  Independence  was,  with 
them,  a  foregone  conclusion  ;  and,  for  their  part,  they  were  sick  of 
the  sham  of  fighting  the  king  under  his  own  commission.  For  the 
person  of  the  man  George,  it  was  absurd  any  longer  to  profess  affec- 
tion ;  and  they  had  early  learned  a  theory  of  government  which  paid 
hardly  more  regard  to  the  royal  office.  They  had  also  acquired 
among  the  hills  a  habit  of  carrying  political  principles  to  their  full 
legitimate  conclusions,  with  a  hopeful  belief  that  a  higher  Power 

243 


244  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

would  take  care  of  the  consequences,  —  a  habit  and  a  pious  faith 
which  we  shall  find  them  exercising  in  other  relations  of  state,  as 
well  as  in  this. 

Having  passed  the  vote  which  practically  renounced  all  alle- 
giance to  the  king, —  but  which  is  recorded  with  no  more  note  or 
comment  than  that  by  which  the  same  meeting  enacted  that 
"  hogs  should  not  run  at  large,"  —  the  town  went  on  with  its  ordi- 
nary business.  Two  months  later,  in  May,  it  gave  to  Valentine 
Rathbun,  its  representative  in  the  General  Court,  the  following 
emphatic  instruction :  — 

"  You  shall,  on  no  pretence  whatever,  favor  a  union  with  Great  Britain, 
as  to  becoming,  in  any  sense,  dependent  upon  her  hereafter ;  and  we  instruct 
you  to  use  your  influence  with  the  Honorable  House,  to  notif  lie  Honorable 
the  Continental  Congress  that  this  whole  Province  is  v  ,  f,,r  the  im- 
portant moment  which  they,  in  their  great  wisdom,  s]  al]  .ippoint  for  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  a  free  Republic" 

A  town  thus  impatient  for  the  birth  of  thf  Cation  must  have 
hailed  its  actual  occurrence  with  enthusiastic  '••  y.  But  no  account 
has  been  handed  down,  even  by  tradition,  of  the  mode  in  which  it 
was  celebrated.  Even  the  great  Declaration,  which  the  O-jneral 
Court  ordered  to  be  "  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  sevr  u  towns 
for  a  memorial  forever,"  does  not  appear  on  tho  3  of  ijittsfield; 
probably  on  account  of  the  practice,  to  which  ••'•  a  has  been 
made,  of  keeping  the  minutes  of  town-meetings  xor  a  long  while 
upon  loose  sheets  of  paper.  The  permanent  records  at  that  time 
appear  to  have  been  written  up  at  long  intervals. 

The  General  Court  having  recently  sanctioned  the  committees  of 
correspondence,  inspection,  and  safety,  consolidated  them  in  one, 
and  ordered  the  towns  to  choose  them  annually,  the  Pittsfield 
March  meeting  elected  to  tho  office,  Dea.  Josiah  Wright,  Valen- 
tine Rathbun,  William  Francis,  Stephen  Crofoot,  Joseph  Keilar, 
William  Barber,'  and  Aaron  Baker :  Capts.  Eli  Root,  James  Noble, 
and  John  Strong  were  added  at  the  May  meeting.1 

1  The  committees  of  subsequent  years  were  as  follows  :  — 

1777.  — Lieut.  William  Barber,  Valentine  Rathbnn,  Col.  John  Brown,  Capt. 
Eli  Root,  Joshua  Robbins,  Dea.  Josiah  Wright,  Capt.  William  Francis,  Lebbeus 
Backus,  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot. 

1778.  —  Valentine  Rathbun,  Caleb  Stanley,  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot,  Dea.  Josiah 
Wright,  Capt.  William  Francis,  Lieut.  Rufus  Allen,  Lebbeus  Backus.    Re-elected 
in  1779. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSF1ELD.  245 

The  unhappy  Tories  who  were  "  handled,"  as  it  was  quaintly 
phrased,  by  the  Revolutionary  comrnittees,  were  never  satisfied, 
whoever  might  compose  them;  but  they  took  advantage  of  the 
change  of  persons  to  demur  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  new  body  in 
cases  commenced  before  the  old ;  whereupon  the  committee  made 
application  to  the  town,  at  its  March  meeting,  for  "  directions  how 
to  recover  pay  for  handling  persons  that  appeared  inimical  to  their 
country."  The  subject  was  referred  to  Valentine  Rathbun,  David 
Bush,  William  Francis,  William  Williams,  Charles  Goodrich,  James 
Noble,  and  John  Strong,  on  whose  report  the  town  determined,  — 

"  First,  That  said  committees,  consisting,  or  having  consisted,  of  whom 
they  may,  are  one  and  the  same,  from  their  first  appointment  to  this  day ; 
and  that  all  their  transactions  and  determinations  ought  to  be  considered  the 
acts  and  proceedings  of  an  adjourned  court ;  consequently,  all  matters  and 
things  that  have  not  been  finally  determined,  still  have  day  with  them  ;  and, 
if  there  be  any  matters  and  things  before  them  that  are  not  yet  determined 
upon,  they,  the  committee  as  it  now  stands,  have  as  full  power  and  author- 
ity to  act  upon  them  as  ever  they  had ;  and  if  any  person  upon  trial  ap- 
peared inimical  to  his  country,  or  hereafter  upon  trial  shall  appear  so,  they 
are  hereby  empowered,  so  far  as  our  united  influence  can  support  them,  to  tax 
such  persons  for  their  time  therein  expended  on  trial,  and  all  other  necessary 
charges,  and,  on  refusal,  to  be  committed  to  the  common  jail,  or  be  other- 
wise confined,  till  the  same  be  paid ;  and,  in  all  other  respects,  to  deal  with 
them,  as  to  punishment,  according  to  the  direction  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, Provincial  Congress,  or  General  Assembly. 

Second.  Voted,  That  if  said  committee  shall  apprehend  and  convene 
before  them  any  person  or  persons  whom  they  suspect  to  be  inimical  to  their 
country,  or  to  be  guilty  of  any  other  misdemeanor,  and  upon  trial  are  found 
innocent,  in  that  case  the  said  committee  have  no  pay  for  their  time  or  cost. 

Third.  Voted,  That  if  any  complaint  shall  be  brought  before  said  com- 
mittee by  any  person  or  persons,  and  supported,  then  the  offender  shall 
pay  all  costs,  and,  refusing,  shall  be  confined  in  the  common  jail,  or  else- 
where, until  he  comply  and  pay  the  cost,  together  with  the  confinement,  with 
the  costs  thereof ;  and,  in  case  any  complainant  shall  not  support  his  com- 
plaint, said  complainant  shall  be  holden  to  pay  all  costs,  and,  on  his  refusal, 
shall  be  holden  and  committed  as  aforesaid." 

These  rules,  perhaps,  made  as  fair  a  provision  for  impartial  jus- 
tice as  could  be  then  attained ;  but  it  still  left  an  inducement  for 

1780. — Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot,  Col.  John  Brown,  Col.  James  Easton,  Capt. 
Eli  Root,  Capt.  William  Francis. 

The  State  Constitution  being  adopted  in  1780,  no  more  committees  of  this 
character  were  chosen. 


246  HISTOKY  OF   PITTSFIELD. 

the  committee,  sitting  as  judges,  to  sustain  their  own  suspicions  as 
prosecutors,  and  thus  obtain  their  costs.  The  confusion  of  func- 
tions rendered  this  difficulty  inevitable. 

The  period  from  the  spring  of  1776  until  the  victories  at  Saratoga 
in  Oct.  1,  1777,  was  one  of  those  in  which  the  spirit  of  Tory- 
ism was  most  rampant  in  Berkshire  and  the  neighboring  districts. 
The  miserable  failure  of  the  Canada  expedition,  from  which  so 
much  had  reasonably  been  expected,  spread  dissension  and 
mutual  distrust  in  the  Whig  ranks,  disheartening  the  patriots,  and 
giving  courage  to  those  "  inimical  to  their  country."  The  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  while  it  gave  firmness  and  consistency  to 
the  Whig  party,  and  inspirited  its  clear-sighted  and  determined 
members,  disaffected  not  a  few  half-hearted  men,  who  could  not 
even  yet  admit  the  impossibility  of  reconciliation  with  the  mother 
country  upon  honorable  terms,  or  who,  weary  of  the  conflict,  were 
willing  to  seize  upon  any  pretext  for  abandoning  it.  The  disasters 
to  the  army  of  Washington  near  New  York,  which  looked  more 
like  utter  ruin  and  disintegration  than  simple  defeat,  spread  a 
gloom  over  the  country,  so  discouraging  that  many  were  seduced 
by  the  liberal  offers  of  pardon  and  favor  which  the  royal  com- 
manders extended ;  and  the  danger  that  the  defection  would 
become  infectious  was  so  great  that  the  sternest  measures  for  its 
repression  were  justified.  Of  those  measures,  the  favorite  was  to 
place  the  offender  under  the  ban  of  the  community,  by  proclaiming 
him  in  the  public  prints  to  be  an  enemy  of  his  country,  and  raising 
the  hue  and  cry  upon  him.1  The  effect  of  this  proceeding  was  to 
deprive  the  culprit  of  the  protection  which  law  and  public  senti- 
ment ordinarily  accord  against  petty  depredations  and  annoy- 
ances, and,  holding  him  up  to  the  contempt  and  hatred  of  his 

1  The  hue  and  cry  was  not  literally  a  pursuit  with  shout  and  halloo,  although 
that  sometimes  came  of  it ;  but  an  advertisement,  like  the  following  from  "  The 
Hartford  Courant :  "  — 

"  Whereas,  Major  Israel  Btoddard  and  Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  both  of  Pittsfield,  in  the 
county  of  Berkshire,  have  fled  from  their  respective  homes,  and  are  justly  esteemed  the 
common  pests  of  society,  and  incurable  enemies  of  their  country,  and  are  supposed  to  be 
somewhere  in  New-York  government,  moving  sedition  and  rebellion  against  their  country, 
it  is  hereby  recommended  to  all  friends  of  American  liberty,  and  to  all  who  do  not  delight  in 
the  innocent  blood  of  their  countrymen,  to  exert  themselves,  that  they  may  be  taken  into 
custody,  and  committed  to  some  of  his  Majesty's  jails,  till  the  civil  war,  which  has  broken 
out  in  this  Province  shall  be  ended. 

"  By  order  of  the  Committees  of  Inspection  in  the  towns  of  Pittsfleld,  Richmond,  and 
Lenox.  JOHN  BROWN. 

"  PITTSFIELD,  April  27, 1775." 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  247 

neighbors,  to  invoke  upon  him  those  petty  and  irritating  persecu- 
tions which  the  baser  sort  of  villagers  are  at  all  times  sufficiently 
prone  to  visit  upon  the  objects  of  their  dislike.  It  further  ex- 
cluded Tories  from  intercourse  with  each  other,  and  from  business 
communication  with  all ;  and  placed  them  under  the  strict  surveil- 
lance of  the  committee's  police,  and  the  jealous  watchfulness  of  a 
suspicious  public.  Fines  and  costs  of  court  were  the  inevitable 
concomitants  of  this  state  of  ban ;  and  the  sufferer  might  think 
himself  lucky  if  he  escaped  imprisonment.  On  the  frequent  occa- 
sions when  public  feeling  was  roused  by  the  approach  of  invasion, 
when  rumors  of  treasonable  plots  were  rife,  or  when  news  of  such 
Tory  atrocities  as  the  massacre  of  Wyoming  were  received, — then 
it  behooved  the  loyalist,  however  circumspect  his  conduct  had 
been,  and  however  little  implicated  in  political  intrigues,  to  beware. 

Many  of  those  in  Pittsfield,  in  anticipation  of  unwelcome  visits 
at  times  like  these,  prepared  themselves  hiding-places.  That  of 
"Woodbridge  Little  was  in  the  open  space  left,  according  to  cus- 
tom, around  the  chimney  of  old-fashioned  houses.  The  cottage 
occupied  by  Mr.  Little  is  still  standing  in  good  preservation,  being 
the  pretty  residence  of  Mr.  F.  C.  Peck,  where  the  Tory's  hiding- 
place  may  still  be  seen.  One  of  the  brothers  Ashley  —  the  only 
Tories  in  The  West  Part  —  had  his  refuge  in  a  crevice  among  the 
rocks,  at  the  base  of  the  Taconics,  known  as  the  Diamond  Cave. 
Another  was  accustomed  to  fly  to  a  cavern  in  the  rocky  banks  of 
Roaring  Brook,  in  New  Lenox. 

An  instance  of  the  minor  troubles  to  which  "inimical  persons" 
were  liable  is  related  of  Ashley.  West  Street,  on  which  he  re- 
sided, is  legally  seven  rods  wide ;  but  less  than  one-half  that  width 
suffices  for  the  purposes  of  travel,  and,  from  time  immemorial,  it 
has  been  the  privilege  of  the  farmers  on  each  side  to  mow  and  some- 
times to  cultivate  the  superfluous  space.  In  early  times,  it  was  per- 
mitted them  to  enclose  their  crops  until  harvest.  This  Ashley, 
in  1776,  had  done  with  the  portion  which  lay  along  his  farm ;  and  it 
was  covered  with  a  fine  growth  of  corn,  when,  for  some  reason 
he  went  into  hiding.  But  unluckily  for  him,  while  thus  absent, 
a  party  of  young  ploughmen  took  their  nooning  near  by;  and  one 
of  them,  of  mischievous  wit,  suggested  that  it  would  never  do 
to  permit  such  encroachments  upon  the  highway,  especially  by 
a  Tory,  and  that  it  was  no  more  than  their  duty  to  maintain 
the  rights  of  the  town.  No  second  suggestion  was  needed.  "In 


248  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  twinkling  of  a  goad-stick,"  says  the  rustic  tradition,  "the  fence 
was  on  the  original  limits ; "  and  the  cattle  of  the  neighborhood 
feasted  that  afternoon  at  the  expense  of  George's  friend.  But 
the  end  was  not  yet.  That  night  the  volunteer  conservators  of 
the  integrity  of  the  highway  carelessly  left  their  plough  standing 
in  the  field;  and,  on  the  next  morning,  the  tongue  was  found  to  have 
been  chopped  completely  off.  It  had  been  hacked  and  mangled  in 
a  manner  which  showed  it  to  have  been  the  work  of  weak  hands ; 
and,  as  it  was  known  that  only  Ashley's  wife  and  daughters  were  at 
the  house,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  fixing  upon  the  authors  of  the 
mutilation.  A  "council  of  war"  was  at  once  called ;  and  the  party 
proceeded  to  the  house,  where,  undeterred  by  the  screams  of  the 
girls,  they  searched  until  the  mother  was  dragged  from  the 
closet  in  which  she  had  ensconced  herself,  when  they  escorted 
the  frightened  dame  to  one  of  the  horse-blocks,  which,  for  the 
convenience  of  mounting  pillions,  then  stood  before  every  door. 
On  this  they  compelled  her  to  stand  while  the  plough  was  brought, 
and  its  wounds  bound  up  in  bandages,  as  if  it  were  a  mangled 
human  limb. 

When  overt  acts  of  treason  against  the  liberties  of  America 
were  proved,  the  punishment  was  more  severe.  In  May,  1776, 
John  Graves,  son  of  Moses,1  aided  in  the  escape  of  Capt.  McKay, 
an  officer  of  the  royal  artillery,  and  his  servant,  one  McFarlane, 
from  the  Hartford  jail ;  which  must  have  been  effected  in  some 
mysterious  way,  the  doors  and  windows  being  afterwards  found 
secured  as  usual.  Graves  piloted  the  fugitives  through  the 
country,  lodging  at  the  house  of  fellow  Tories,  until  he  reached 
Pittsfield.  Here  they  recruited  at  the  house  of  Graves  and  his 
brother,  who  furnished  them  with  horses,  with  which  they  set  out 
in  the  hope  of  reaching  Canada.  But  at  Lanesborough  they 
were  suspected,  knocked  down,  and,  according  to  their  own  story, 
"beaten  and  abused  in  the  grossest  manner  after  being  tied."2 
That  was  not  the  manner  of  "  the  country  fellows "  of  that 
section ;  and  the  probability  is,  that  Capt.  McKay,  who  was  a 
brave  and  spirited  man,  resisted  his  captors  strenuously,  and  got 
soundly  mauled  for  his  pains. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  recapture  created  a  sensation  in  the  neigh- 

1  Brother  of  the  Moses  Graves  known  to  the  last  Pittsfield  generation. 

2  Major  French's  Journal,  Coll.  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.,  vol.  i.  p.  207. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  249 

borhood,  and  Graves  was  sent  back  with  his  friends.  An  ex- 
amination showed  that  he  was  not  only  concerned  in  McKay's 
escape,  but  had  made  two  similar  trips  between  Pittsfield  and 
Hartford.  The  Connecticut  committee,  however,  thought  that, 
although  he  had  committed  an  offence  in  that  colony,  it  was  better 
that  he  should  be  tried  at  home,  and  wrote  to  the  Massachusetts 
Board  of  War  a  letter  in  which  they  described  him  as  "  appearing 
to  be  a  low-spirited,  insidious  fellow,  and  to  entertain  strong  prej- 
udices against  the  liberties  of  America."  *  The  board  ordered 
the  sheriff  of  Berkshire  to  receive  and  commit  him  for  trial.2  He 
was  finally  banished.  An  anecdote  connected  with  this  affair 
illustrates  the  feeling  of  the  people  towards  the  Tories.  McKay 
was  entertained  at  Stockbridge  by  Gideon  Smith,  a  notorious 
loyalist ;  and,  the  fact  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  committee, 
it  was  deemed  necessary  to  "handle  "  him.  The  hue  and  cry  was 
raised ;  and  a  party,  of  which  Sharpshooter  Linus  Parker  was  one, 
repaired  to  the  delinquent's  house.  His  family  reported  him  not 
at  home ;  but  the  seekers,  confident  that  he  was  secreted  in  the 
barn,  summoned  him,  with  a  promise  of  quarter,  to  surrender. 
Upon  this  he  appeared  at  a  half-open  door,  peered  curiously  around, 
and,  after  some  parley,  came  out  and  gave  himself  up.  Smith  and 
Parker  were,  nevertheless,  on  very  friendly  terms ;  and  after  the 
war,  the  former  being,  with  his  wife,  on  a  visit  to  the  latter's 
house,  Smith  reverted  to  the  incident  described,  and  said  that 
when  he  opened  the  door  of  the'  barn,  being  an  extraordinary 
runner,  he  felt  certain  of  effecting  his  escape ;  but,  seeing  Parker 
with  his  famous  rifle  in  hand,  he  was  afraid  to  make  the  attempt. 
"  And  now,  Parker,"  said  he,  "  I  want  to  know  if  you  would  really 
have  shot  me."  —  "  As  quick  as  I  ever  shot  a  deer ! "  was  the  reply. 
"Then  it  would  have  been  all  over  with  me,"  said  his  friend, 
trembling  with  emotion  at  the  memory  of  the  danger  he  had 
escaped. 

Confiscation  and  banishment  were  inflicted  in  several  instances ; 
but  generally  those  who  receive  1  these  punishments  had  already 
joined  the  king's  forces.  In  1778,  the  General  Court  passed  "an 
act  to  prevent  the  return  to  the  State  of  certain  persons  who  had 
left  it,  or  either  of  the  United  States,  and  joined  the  enemies 
thereof."  The  list  of  those  thus  proscribed  contained,  in  all,  three 

1  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  clxv.  2  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  ccs.  p.  270. 


250  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

hundred  and  eight  names,  of  which  the  following  were  from 
Pittsfield:  Jonathan  Prindle,  Benjamin  Noble,  Francis  Noble, 
Elisha  Jones,  John  Graves,  and  Daniel  Brewer.  Francis  Noble 
settled  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  and  was  one  of  the  refugees 
to  whom  the  lands  upon  which  that  city  is  built  were  granted,  in 
compensation  for  their  sufferings  for  the  Crown.  His  twin  brother, 
Benjamin,  was  banished  at  the  same  time,  and  repaired  to  New 
York,  where  he  was  killed  before  the  return  of  peace.1 

The  commencement  of  Jones's  troubles  has  been  related.2  In 
May,  1776,  the  Pittsfield  committee,  "in  observance  of  an  order 
from  the  Great  and  General  Court,  dated  April  23,  directing 
them  to  take  possession  of  all  the  estates  of  absconding  Tories," 
made  return,  as  regarded  Jones,  that  "  they  had  the  greatest  reason 
to  think  he  had  fled  to  the  ministerial  army,  and  joined  the  same 
against  the  Colonies,"  and  that  they  had  accordingly  "  taken  pos- 
session of  his  real  and  personal  estate."  The  former  embraced 
three  hundred  acres  of  land  and  four  lots,  upon  one  of  which  was 
the  homestead,  a  very  superior  farm-house,  on  Wendell  Square ; 
and,  on  another,  saw  and  grist  mills.  These  they  had  leased,  ac- 
cording to  the  legislative  order,  for  one  year  from  April,  "  with 
some  small  reserve  for  the  proper  support  of  Mrs.  Mehitable  Jones, 
wife  of  said  Elisha,  and  their  six  children."  An  inventory  of  the 
personal  property  "found  in  the  hands  and  possession  of  the  said 
Mehitable  "  was  also  returned ;  and  in  the  list  are  enumerated 
"  one  negro  man  named  Prince,  about  twenty-four  years  old,  who 
left  his  master  Jones  about  a  year  ago,  and  enlisted  in  Col.  Sar- 
gent's regiment,8  and  Titus,  negro  boy,  aged  eleven." 

Woodbridge  Little  and  Israel  Stoddard,  after  their  experience  in 
the  spring  of  1775,  had  maintained  a  circumspect  course,  and,  as 
they  claimed,  complied  outwardly  with  all  the  requirements  of  the 
national  and  State  legislatures.  But  they  had  been  watched  with 
suspicious  jealousy  by  the  local  committees :  and  a  post-bag,  which 
passed  secretly  back  and  forth  between  the  Tories  of*  Berkshire 
and  their  friends  in  New-York  City,  was  captured  by  High  Sheriff 
Israel  Dickinson ; 4  and  the  contents  showed  that  all  the  loyalists 

1  Sabine's  American  Loyalists. 

2  See  chap.  xiii. 

8  Enlisted  as  Prince  Hall.  In  1772,  Jones  advertised  two  runaway  mulatto 
slaves  in  the  "  Courant." 

4  This  post-bag  is  still  in  possession  of  the  sheriff's  grandson,  Israel  Dickinson, 
Esq.,  of  Lafayette,  Ind. 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  251 

of  the  county,  for  some  purposes  at  least,  were  closely  banded  in  a 
secret  organization,  —  the  high  with  the  low  ;  those  who  outwardly 
maintained  a  show  of  respect  for  the  Revolutionary  authorities, 
as  well  as  those  who  malignantly  opposed  them.  Probably  on  ac- 
count of  the  evidence  thus  obtained,  Messrs.  Little  and  Stoddard 
were  "  handled  "  with  a  severity  from  which  they  appealed  to  the 
powers  at  Boston.  But,  in  the  spring  of  1777,  the  increasing  de- 
pression of  American  affairs,  and  the  dangers  which  threatened 
the  patriotic  cause,  still  more  emboldened  the  Tories,  who  had, 
through  the  disasters  of  the  previous  year,  been  gaining  confidence, 
and  showing  themselves  in  their  true  colors ;  so  that  it  became 
necessary  to  deal  with  them  in  earnest.  And,  in  June,  William 
Williams,  John  Brown,  and  Stephen  Crofoot,  selectmen  of  Pitts- 
field,  —  being,  as  they  declared,  "  obliged  thereto  by  an  act  of  the 
General  Court," —  called  a  town  meeting  for  the  express  "  purpose 
of  discovering  who  are  the  internal  enemies  of  this  and  the  other 
United  States  of  America,"  and  also  "to  hear  what  Jonathan 
Hobby  and  Jonathan  Weston  have  to  offer." 

This  action  brought  matters  to  a  crisis ;  and,  at  the  meeting, 
"Woodbridge  Little,  Israel  Stoddard,  Moses  Graves,  J.  Hobby,  J. 
Weston,  and  Joseph  Clark  made  their  appearance  before  the  town, 
and  upon  their  confession,  declaration,  and  taking  the  oath  of  al- 
legiance to  the  United  Independent  States  of  America,  were  re- 
ceived as  the  friends  of  these  States."  The  allegiance  thus  sworn 
appears  to  have  been  faithfully  maintained  ;  and  Mr.  Little,  at  least, 
received  the  favor  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens,  being 
elected  selectman,  and  delegate  to  the  county  conventions  in  1781 
and  subsequent  years,  and  representative  in  1788,  1789,  and  1790. 

But  this  happy  reconciliation  was  preceded  by  an  incident  of 
not  so  pleasant  or  creditable  a  character.  Under  the  orders  of  the 
legislature,  fifteen  Tories  were  arrested,  and  placed  under  guard  at 
the  tavern  of  Col.  Easton  ;  and  it  is  related  that  a  soldier,  whose 
temper  had  been  soured  by  ill-treatment  when  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,1  begged  the  privilege  of  standing  sentinel 
over  them.  His  request  being  granted,  he  imposed  perfect  silence 
upon  those  under  his  charge,  and  prohibited  intercourse  among 
them  on  penalty  of  instant  death.  On  the  slightest  pretence  of  in- 
fraction of  his  orders,  he  presented  his  loaded  musket  at  the  head 

1  In  the  diary  of  Mr.  Allen,  the  return  of  several  soldiers,  broken  down  by  the 
cruelties  practised  in  the  British  prison-ships,  is  noted. 


252  HISTOBY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  one  or  another  of  the  frightened  party.  It  was  evident  that  the 
man  was  seeking  a  pretext  for  killing  one  of  them  ;  and  the  greatest 
terror  prevailed,  especially,  it  is  said,  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Little.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  so  ill  qualified  a  guardsman  was  relieved  as 
soon  as  the  facts  came  to  the  knowledge  of  his  officers. 

During  the  military  operations  in  Westchester  County,  after  the 
retreat  from  Long  Island  in  the  fall  of  1776,  Col.  Simonds  of  Wil- 
liamstown  led  a  corps  of  levies  from  the  three  Berkshire  regiments 
to  re-enforce  the  army  of  Washington.  Of  this  regiment,  which 
served  from  the  30th  of  September  until  the  17th  of  August, 
Rev.  Thomas  Allen  was  chaplain ;  and  Pittsfield  also  contributed 
Lieut.  William  Barber  and  fifteen  men  to  its  ranks.  We  know 
nothing  of  its  service  there  except  what  is  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  Mr.  Allen's  diary,  regarding  the  battle  of  White 
Plains,  and  the  few  days  immediately  preceding  it :  — 

"  WEDNESDAY,  Oct.  23.  —  This  day  I  went  with  Rev.  Mr.  May  and  Dr. 
Guitteau,  to  Frog's  Neck,  and  brought  off  a  colt.  On  our  return,  I  saw  our 
men  bringing  in  a  Hessian  on  a  sort  of  bier,  who  was  wounded  in  the  leg. 
There  had  been  an  action  just  before  between  a  party  of  our  men  and  the 
enemy,  of  whom  we  killed  ten  or  twenty,  and  took  two  prisoners.  The 
wounded  Hessian's  leg  was  broken ;  and,  as  our  men  brought  him  in,  the  sur- 
rounding multitude  behaved  in  the  most  rude,  inhuman,  and  unmanly  man- 
ner ;  some  calling  out,  "  Dash  out  his  brains,"  others  damning  him,  and 
still  others  upbraiding  and  insulting  him  in  an  indecent  manner.  But  the 
poor  Hessian  behaved  like  a  man,  and  pulled  off  his  hat  to  the  multitude. 
He  was  a  rifleman,  dressed  in  green,  faced  with  white,  and  wore  a  green 
cockade  upon  his  hat.  He  was  of  dark  complexion,  caused,  I  suppose,  by 
the  long  passage  which  he  had  of  twenty  weeks,  he  having  arrived  but  three 
weeks  before. 

"  THURSDAY,  Oct.  24.  —  At  night,  struck  our  tents,  and  moved  up  four 
miles  towards  White  Plains.  This  night,  encamped  without  a  tent  upon  the 
ground. 

"  FRIDAY,  Oct.  25.  —  All  day  under  arms,  in  expectation  of  an  attack  from 
the  enemy,  who  now  appeared,  paraded  in  sight,  marching  and  counter- 
marching. A  great  battle  appeared  to  be  at  the  door.  This  night,  also,  lay 
on  the  ground,  under  a  brush  shelter. 

"  SATURDAY,  Oct.  26.  —  The  sun  rose  clear.  The  enemy  near  ;  a  great  bat- 
tle drawing  on.  Our  soldiers  this  morning  brought  in  a  regular,  James  Marrow, 
of  the  Thirty-fifth  Regiment.  Gen.  Leslie  commands  the  brigade ;  Col.  Kerr 
commands  the  Thirty-fifth  Regiment,  one  of  the  four  which  make  up  the 
brigade.  This  soldier  affirms  that  the  regulars'  muskets  were  all  charged ; 
and  it  was  his  opinion  they  would  attack  us  before  to-morrow  mornin^.  He 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  253 

further  deposed  that  there  were  ten  brigades  of  regulars  in  this  neighbor- 
hood. Yesterday  forgot  to  dine ;  to-day  made  an  excellent  dinner  on  bread 
and  butter  only,  being  in  continual  expectation  of  a  cannonade  from  the 
enemy,  who  lay  in  plain  sight,  at  the  distance  of  a  little  more  than  half  a 
mile.  Kindled  up  the  fires  at  dark ;  and,  soon  after,  began  our  retreat,  with 
Gen.  Bell's  brigade,  in  most  excellent  order,  keeping  out  on  flank  guard. 

"LORD'S  DAY,  Oct.  27. —  Arrived  at  break  of  day  at  White  Plains,  hav- 
ing performed  a  march  of  above  twelve  miles  in  the  night.  Lay  down  after 
daylight  for  sleep  on  the  ground.  This  day,  thirteen  Hessian  prisoners 
were  taken,  and  two  were  killed.  Yesterday,  Dr.  Danielson,  surgeon's  mate 
to  Dr.  Mather,  was  killed  within  our  encampment  on  Valentine's  Hill.  He 
refusing  to  stop,  they  fired  upon  him,  and  he  fell  dead.  Dr.  Wright  of 
New  Marlboro'  was  buried  this  day  at  White  Plains.  Such  a  confused  Sab- 
bath I  never  before  saw.  This  day  encamped  on  White  Plains,  in  our  tent 
again,  having  been  marvellously  preserved  in  our  retreat. 

"  MONDAY,  Oct.  28.  —  About  nine  o'clock,  A.M.,  the  enemy  and  our  out- 
parties  were  engaged.  About  ten,  they  appeared  in  plain  sight,  filing  off  in 
columns  to  the  left  and  towards  our  right  wing,  but  no  additional  force  of 
ours  was  as  yet  directed  that  way.  At  length,  the  enemy  came  up  with  our 
right  wing,  and  a  most  furious  engagement  ensued,  by  cannonade  and  small 
arms,  which  lasted  towards  two  hours.  Our  wing  was  situated  on  a  hill,  and 
consisted  of,  perhaps,  something  more  than  one  brigade  of  Maryland  forces. 
The  cannonade  and  small  arms  played  most  furiously,  without  cessation ; 
I  judged  more  than  twenty  cannon  a  minute.  At  length,  a  re-enforcement 
of  Gen.  Bell's  brigade  was  ordered  from  an  adjacent  hill,  where  I  was.  I 
had  an  inclination  to  go  with  them  to  the  hill  where  the  conflict  was  raging, 
that  I  might  more  distinctly  see  the  battle,  and  perhaps  contribute  my  mite 
to  our  success.  Just  as  we  begun  to  ascend  the  hill,  we  found  our  men  had 
given  away,  and  were  coming  off  the  hill  in  some  confusion,  at  which 
moment  elevated  shot  from  the  enemy's  camp  came  into  the  valley,  where 
we  were,  very  thickly,  one  of  which  took  off  the  fore  part  of  a  man's  foot, 
about  three  rods  from  me,  of  which  I  had  a  distinct  view,  as  would  be  sup- 
posed. I  saw  the  ball  strike  and  the  man  fall ;  and,  as  none  appeared  for 
bis  help,  I  desired  five  or  six  of  those  who  had  been  in  battle  to  carry  him 
off.  Others  I  saw  carrying  off  wounded  in  different  parts ;  and,  with  the  rest, 
I  retreated  again  to  the  main  body  on  the  hill,  which  was  fortified,  from 
which  I  had  just  before  descended.  Our  men  fought  with  great  bravery : 
they  generally,  one  with  another,  shot  seven  cartridges  before  they  were 
ordered  to  retreat.  They  were  sore  galled  by  the  enemy's  field-pieces.  Our 
loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  from  the  best  information  1  can  obtain, 
is  about  two  hundred.  The  enemy's  loss  "... 

The  fragment  of  Mr.  Allen's  diary  closes  here. 

In  November,  at  about  the  time  when  Col.  Simonds's  regiment 


254  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

returned  to  Berkshire,  that  of  Col.  Patterson,  leaving  its  fatal  en- 
campment at  Mount  Independence,  repaired  to  Albany,  where  it 
took  shipping  for  Esopus,  on  the  Hudson.  Marching  thence  across 
the  country,  it  joined  Washington  at  Newtown,  Pa.,  just  in  season 
to  take  part  in  the  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton. 

But  such  had  been  the  sufferings  of  the  corps,  that  leaving 
Washington  at  New  York,  on  the  21st  of  April,  a  well-appointed 
regiment  more  than  six  hundred  strong,  it  returned  to  him  in  No- 
vember with  barely  two -hundred  and  twenty  men,  many  of  whom 
were  greatly  enfeebled  ;  and  yet  it  had  seen  less  than  two  months' 
service  in  the  field.  Of  the  brave  men  who  were  missed  from  its 
ranks,  some  were  invalided  at  home;  but  the  greater  portion, 
victims  of  disease,  battle,  or  the  tomahawk  of  the  lurking  savage, 
were  in  their  graves,  —  if  graves  were  accorded  them. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PITTSFIELD   IN  THE  SECOND   CANADA  CAMPAIGN.  — ARNOLD'S    PERSE- 
CUTION  OF  BROWN  AND  EASTON. 

[SEPTEMBER,  1775-1778.] 

Arnold  arrives  at  Quebec. — Montgomery  arrives. — Projected  Assault  on  the 
City.  —  Brown  charged  with  creating  Dissensions.  —  The  Charge  considered. 
—  Assault  on  Quebec. — Death  of  Montgomery. — Arnold  continues  the 
Siege.  —  Brown's  the  most  advanced  Post.  —  Expects  to  be  a  Uriah  there. — 
Small-Pox  in  the  Army.  — Attempt  to  set  up  Inoculation  in  Pittsfield.  —  Pat- 
terson's Regiment  marches  to  Canada.  — In  the  Affair  of  the  Cedars.  —  Evac- 
uation of  Canada.  —  Miserable  Condition  of  the  Army  at  Crown  Point.  — 
Schuyler  and  the  Berkshire  Committees.  —  Arnold's  Charges  against  Brown 
and  Easton.  —  They  demand  a  Court  of  Inquiry.  —  Singular  Difficulty  in 
obtaining  it. — Brown  impeaches  Arnold  of  Treason  and  other  Crimes.  — 
Appeals  to  the  Public.  —  Publishes  a  Hand-Bill  against  Arnold.  —  Remarkable 
Interview  between  Brown  and  Arnold.  —  An  ex-parte  Trial.  —  Gross  Injustice 
to  Brown.  —  His  spirited  Remonstrance  and  Resignation. 

~T7\  ARLY  in  August,  1775,  Washington  found  that  he  could  very 
iU  -well  spare  from  the  army  at  Cambridge  a  detachment  of  a 
thousand  or  twelve  hundred  men,1  for  a  movement  against  Quebec 
by  the  way  of  the  Kennebec  River.  This  expedition  had  been 
sufwested  by  Col.  Brewer  of  Massachusetts ;  but  the  commander- 

•* 

in-chief  placed  at  its  head  Arnold,  who  was  at  Cambridge,  filling 
the  camp  with  his  loud-mouthed  complaints  of  the  treatment 
which  he  had  received  at  Ticonderoga. 

The  little  army  which  was  intrusted  to  him  consisted  of  two 
regiments  of  infantry  and  three  companies  of  rifles,  —  about  eleven 
hundred  men  in  all.2  Leaving  Cambridge  on  the  15th  of  Septem- 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iii.  p.  214. 

2  Jabez  Chandler  (?),  John  Gardner,  and  Jonathan  Bill  enlisted  out  of  Capt. 
Noble's  minute-men  into  Arnold's  expedition. 

255 


256  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

her,  it  arrived  at  Point  Levi,  opposite  Quebec,  on  the  9th  of 
November,  with  less  than  nine  hundred  effective  men,  who,  in 
their  march  through  the  wilderness,  had  endured  the  severest 
suffering,  and  encountered  innumerable  dangers. 

Eager  to  obtain  distinction  for  himself,  Arnold  made  some  bold 
demonstrations  against  the  city ;  but,  learning  that  Carleton  was 
approaching  from  Montreal,  he  retreated  to  Point  Aux-Trembles, 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  twenty  miles  above  Quebec,  where,  on  the 
1st  of  December,  Montgomery,  with  a  beggai-ly  remnant  of  the 
army  of  St.  Johns,  arrived,  and  took  command  of  the  combined 
forces,  numbering  not  so  many  effective  men  in .  all  as  Arnold  had 
brought  with  him  to  Point  Levi :  so  rapidly  were  their  battalions 
reduced  by  the  expiration  of  enlistments  and  by  disease. 

Montgomery  soon  discovered  that  an  attempt  to  enter  Quebec 
by  storm  was  a  necessity ;  and  a  plan  was  arranged  of  which  the 
essential  points  were  simultaneous  night-assaults  upon  the  upper 
and  lower  towns,  by  divisions  led  respectively  by  Montgomery 
and  Arnold  in  person,  with  feints  in  two  other  quarters.  But  the 
general  was  greatly  chagrined,  when  the  corps  selected  for  the 
attack  were  ordered  to  report  for  that  duty,  to  find  three  compa- 
nies of  Arnold's  detachment  refusing  to  serve  under  him,  although 
eager  for  service  in  either  of  the  other  parties.  Montgomery  had 
been  greatly  struck  with  the  superior  discipline  and  subordination 
which  Arnold's  troops  exhibited  in  contrast  to  his  own,  and  was 
loath  to  encourage  a  proceeding  which  might  lead  to  deterioration 
in  qualities  the  lack  of  which  he  had  deeply  felt  in  his  own  com- 
mand; and  he  was,  moreover,  convinced  that  the  dissatisfied  com- 
panies had  no  just  cause  of  complaint  against  their  commander.  He 
therefore  refused  to  make  the  change  which  they  demanded  ;  but 
their  dissatisfaction  was  so  great,  that  the  proposed  plan  of  assault 
was  abandoned. 

Montgomery  attributed  the  disaffection  of  the  three  compa- 
nies to  a  certain  "  Capt. ,  who  had  incurred  Arnold's  dis- 
pleasure," and  to  a  field-officer,  who,  as  he  thought,  desired  sep- 
arate command  of  the  recusant  corps;  and  he  added,  "I  am  much 

afraid  my  friend is  deeply  concerned  in  this  business.  I 

will  have  an  eclaircissement  with  him  on  the  subject."  The  names 
given  in  blank  are  carefully  erased  in  the  original  letter ; 1  but  it  has 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol:  iv.  p.  754. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  257 

been  assumed  that  the  friend  alluded  to  was  Col.  Brown,  and  that 
lie  was  actually  the  originator  of  the  trouble.  There  are  many 
circumstances  to  favor  the  supposition  that  his  name  should 
actually  fill  the  blank,  although  there  is  no  evidence  of  it.  But  it 
will  be  observed,  that  the  general  expresses  only  a  suspicion,  which 
the  eclaircissement  which  he  intended  might  have  entirely  re- 
moved. If  it  had  been  well  grounded,  it  could  not  have  escaped 
the  knowledge  of  the  vigilant  Arnold,  who,  if  he  had  been  able  to 
prove  so  serious  a  military  offence,  would  not  have  failed  to  make 
it  prominent  among  the  charges  which  he  brought  against  his 
enemy  in  the  acrimonious  controversy  which  they  carried  on  for 
the  ensuing  two  years.  So  reckless  was  he  in  his  accusations, 
that  one  cannot  believe  he  would  have  waited  even  fora  semblance 
of  proof,  had  the  rumor  come  to  his  ears,  that  Major  Brown  had 
been  guilty  of  a  crime  so  odious  to  every  commander,  and  espe- 
cially to  Washington  and  Schuyler,  as  incitement  to  mutiny. 

Brown  had  had  opportunity,  in  private  life,  before  the  war,  to 
obtain  an  insight  into  the  vileness  of  Arnold's  character,1  and  had 
learned  him  thoroughly.  After-intercourse  had  revealed  to  him  in 
the  officer  the  same  selfish  wickedness  which  had  characterized  the 
jockey  and  tradesman.  He  was  informed  of  his  petty  embezzle- 
ment of  the  wages  he  had  "humbly  engaged  to  see  paid"  to 
Capt.  Noble's  poor  Pittsfield  soldiers;  he  was  familiar  with  the 
arrogance,  slanderous  malignity,  and  even  worse,  which  he  had 
manifested  at  Ticonderoga ;  and  he  fully  believed  that  the  in- 
cipient traitor,  after  learning  that  the  Massachusetts  committee 
would  refuse  him  the  place  he  claimed  there,  would,  had  he 
not  been  prevented  by  Col.  Easton  with  a  strong  hand,  have 
betrayed  the  little  flotilla  to  the  British  commandant  at  St.  Johns. 

With  this  opinion  of  Arnold,  Major  Brown  dreaded  the  conse- 
quences of  the  favor  which  so  dangerous  a  man  was  winning  with 
his  superior  officers.  His  deep  feeling  upon  this  point  had  been 
freely  communicated  to  his  friend  and  general,  and  hence  prob- 
ably,  if  Brown  was  the  person  alluded  to  in  Montgomery's  last 
letter,  arose  his  fear  that  one  whom  he  loved  and  esteemed  had 
been  so  imprudent  as  to  tamper  with  Arnold's  soldiers.  Col. 
Brown's  subsequent  heroic  and  patriotic  subordination  of  his  just 


1  His  brothei>in-law  and  legal  preceptor,  Oliver  Arnold,  was  first  cousin  to 
the  traitor. 

17 


258  EflSTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD. 

sense  of  his  own  personal  rights  to  the  interest  of  his  country 
renders  it  impossible  to  believe  that  he  was  guilty  of  the  conduct 
of  which  he  was  hastily  suspected. 

'  As  the  time  approached  when  the  term  for  which  Col.  Easton's 
men  had  enlisted  would  expire,  Gen.  Montgomery  urged  Mnjor 
Brown  to  remain  in  the  service,  and  attempt  to  raise  a  regiment 
from  those  about  to  be  disbanded  from  his  own  and  other  corps. 
Brown  consented ;  and,  considering  the  difficulties  which  lay  in  his 
way,  mustered  a  respectable  number  of  men,  among  whom  Capt. 
Eli  Root,  Lieut.  Joel  Dickinson,  and  Lieut.  Joseph  Allen,  with  six 
privates,  enrolled  themselves,  on  the  1st  of  January,  as  from 
Pittsfield,  which  sent  four  additional  men  on  the  23d  of  the  same 
month. 

Col.  Easton's  regiment  was  discharged  on  the  31st  of  December. 
On  the  day  previous,  the  disastrous  assault  on  Quebec,  which 
cost  the  American  armies  the  noble  Montgomery,  was  made.  The 
troops  were  ordered  to  parade  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
The  first  division,  commanded  by  Montgomery  in  person,  com- 
prised the  New-York  regiments  and  part  of  Col.  Easton's;  the 
second,  under  Arnold,  embraced  the  detachment  he  had  brought 
from  Cambridge,  and  Lamb's  artillery.  Besides  these  were  Liv- 
ingston's small  corps,  and  a  detachment  of  ninety-four  men  from 
Major  Brown's  newly-organized  battalion,  under  command  of 
Capt.  Jacob  Brown.1 

The  four  divisions  paraded  separately;  and  the  two  latter 
amused  the  enemy,  while  Montgomery  and  Arnold  led  the  real 
assaults  at  divers  points.  We  need  not  enter  into  the  sad  details. 
Montgomery  fell  mortally  wounded,  while  gallantly  fighting  at 
the  head  of  his  men.  Arnold,  while  no  less  gallantly  leading  his, 
was  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  carried  off  the  field.  The  attack  was 
abandoned.  By  the  death  of  Montgomery,  Gen.  Wooster  suc- 
ceeded to  the  chief  command  in  Canada ;  but  kept  his  quarters 
quietly  during  the  winter  at  Montreal,  while  Arnold  doggedly 
maintained  the  siege  of  Quebec,  chiefly  by  keeping  up  a  blockade 
which  excluded  supplies.  Carleton,  confident  of  his  ability  to  hold 
out  until  the  breaking-up  of  the  ice  in  the  spring  should  permit 
re-enforcements  from  England  to  reach  him,  as  doggedly  defended 
his  position  within  the  walls. 

1  Capt.  Jacob  Brown  was  brother  of  the  major,  and  father-in-law  of  David 
Bush  of  Pittsfield. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  259 

During  this  winter's  siege,  Col.  Brown  was  posted  with  his  regi- 
ment at  the  advance  post,  within  cannon-shot  of  the  city  forti- 
fications. "  A  plenty  of  thirty-six-pound  balls,"  said  he,  in  a  letter 
of  Feb.  7  to  his  father,  "come  to  our  door  without  hands: 
two  of  them  we  use  for  hand-irons."  In  a  letter  of  March  15  to 
his  wife,  he  expressed  great  pleasure  in  a  rumor  that  Gen.  Lee 
was  near  at  hand.  "  Gen.  Arnold  and  I,"  said  he,  "  do  not  agree 
very  well.  I  expect  another  storm  soon,  and  that  I  must  be  a 
Uriah.  We  had  [manuscript  illegible]  yesterday.  The  enemy 
made  a  sally  on  our  working-party,  it  was  said  with  five  hundred 
men.  Gen.  Arnold  immediately  ordered  me,  being  on  the 
advance  post,  to  attack  them  with  my  detachment,  which  consists 
of  about  two  hundred  men,  more  than  half  of  whom  were  sick 
in  hospital.  I  accordingly  marched  against  the  enemy,  who  re- 
tired into  their  fort  too  soon  for  me  to  attack  them.  I  expect  to 
be  punished  for  disobedience  of  orders  next.  ...  I  suppose  all 
letters  are  broken  open  before  they  reach  the  Colonies ;  but  as  this 
goes  by  a  friend,  Capt.  Pixley,  it  will  come  safe." 

New  England  having  responded  to  an  earnest  appeal  for  re- 
enforcements,  Gen.  Wooster's  force  was,  by  the  1st  of  April,  in- 
creased to  three  thousand  men,  of  whom,  however,  about  eight 
hundred  lay  sick  with  small-pox.  No  preventive  was  then  known 
for  this  malady,  —  then  the  most  dreaded  of  pestilences,  —  except 
inoculation  of  the  patient  with  its  own  virus,  after  his  system  had 
undergone  a  severe  regimen  and  a  peculiar  medical  treatment. 
Those  who  submitted  to  this  process  generally  survived  the  ordeal ; 
but  a  'considerable  percentage  died,  and  all  were  subjected  to 
more  or  less  suffering.  There  was,  besides,  great  danger,  that,  from 
the  inoculating  pest-houses,  the  disease  might  extend  to  the  sur- 
rounding community. 

There  was,  therefore,  the  most  intense  prejudice  against  the 
practice  in  the  minds  of  the  people ;  and  the  special  vote  of  the 
town,  which  was  required  before  it  was  permitted,  was  always 
obtained  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  and  accompanied  by  the  most 
stringent  restrictions,  which  the  physicians  were  required  to  give 
bond  to  respect,  while  a  committee  of  the  most  prudent  citizens 
was  appointed  to  supervise  their  conduct.  Even  this,  indeed,  was 
a  revolutionary  assumption  of  authority  on  the  part  of  the  towns, 
for  there  was  a  law  of  the  Province  prohibiting  inoculation,  except 
in  the  town  of  Boston;  and  the  Council  in  July,  1776,  expressed 


260  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

their  unwillingness  to  credit  the  report  that  Gen.  Ward  had  granted 
liberty  to  some  of  the  Continental  troops  to  receive  it  at  Winter 
Hill,  to  the  great  dread  of  the  good  people  of  Medford.1 

In  the  spring  of  1774,  Dr.  Childs,  foreseeing  the  war,  and  antici- 
pating the  infection  to  which  the  army  would  be  exposed,  asked 
permission  "  to  set  up  inoculation  "  in  Pittsfield  ;  but  it  was  refused. 
He  renewed  his  application  with  increased  earnestness  before  the 
town-meeting  of  April,  1775,  which  again  denied  him.  It  was  not 
until  after  sad  experience,  that  in  September,  1776,  the  requisite 
license  was  accorded,  and  then  only  with  hesitancy,  and  accom- 
panied by  the  most  embarrassing  conditions.  Only  those  who  had 
the  thoughtfulness,  as  well  as  the  means,  to  visit  other  places  for 
the  purpose,  went  to  the  war  protected  against  the  fearful  con- 
tagion. Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  on  entering  the  service,  visited  Sheffield, 
and  there  submitted  to  inoculation. 

Patterson's  regiment,  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  proceeded  to 
Canada  via  New  York  and  the  Hudson;  and  a  detachment  of 
sixty-seven,  taken  from  several  of  its  companies,  were  included  in 
the  cowardly  capitulation  at  the  Cedars,  where,  on  the  19th  of 
May,  three  hundred  and  ninety-six  Americans  were  surrendered  by 
Major  Butterfield  to  Capt.  Foster,  who  led  a  force  of  forty  British 
regulars,  one  hundred  Canadians,  and  five  hundred  Indians,  the 
latter  commanded  by  Brant  in  person.  Major  Sherburn,  arriving 
near  the  scene  soon  after  the  surrender,  having  been  sent  to  the 
relief  of  Butterfield,  fell  into  an  ambuscade,  and,  after  making  a 
splendid  fight,  was  also  obliged  to  capitulate.  But  Foster,  in  vio- 
lation of  the  terms  he  had  granted,  permitted  his  savages  to  plun- 
der both  detachments  of  the  American  prisoners,  and  to  murder 
many  of  Sherburn's  corps,  which  lost  in  the  battle  and  the  massacre 
fifty-eight  men.  In  Butterfield's  detachment  were  two  of  Capt. 
Noble's  company,  —  Elisha  Kingsley  and  Tristram  Story. 

Burgoyne  arriving  early  in  May,  with  succor  for  Quebec,  the 
Americans  were  compelled  to  retreat,  and  soon  entirely  to  evacuate 
Canada.  All  that  dash  and  enthusiasm,  inspired  by  a  reasonable 
hope  of  great  results,  —  in  spite  of  imperfect  discipline,  meagre 
numbers,  and  the  scantiest  appointments,  —  had  enabled  the  army 
of  1775  to  win,  was  lost  in  a  few  brief  weeks  of  1776. 

The  remnant  of  the  retreating  forces  reached  Crown  Point  in 

1  Am.  Ar.,  5th  ser.  vol.  i.  p.  146. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELI}.  261 

June,  in  a  state  of  demoralization  which  is  thus  vividly  and  truth- 
fully depicted  in  a  letter  of  John  Adams,  dated  July  7  :  — 

"  Our  army  at  Crown  Point  is  an  object  of  wretchedness,  enough  to  fill  a 
humane  mind  with  horror:  disgraced,  defeated,  discontented,  dispirited, 
diseased,  naked,  undisciplined,  eaten  up  with  vermin,  no  clothes,  beds,  blan- 
kets, no  medicine,  no  victuals  but  salt  pork  and  flour.  ...  I  hope  that 
measures  will  be  taken  to  cleanse  the  army  at  Crown  Point  from  the  small- 
pox ;  and  that  other  measures  will  be  taken  in  New  England,  by  tolerating 
and  encouraging  inoculation,  to  render  the  disease  less  terrible. 

Capt.  Noble,  of  the  minute-men  of  1775,  died  at  Crown  Point 
from  the  secondary  effects  of  small-pox,  having  previously  written 
home  the  following  letter,  which  finds  its  illustration  in  the  above 
extract  from  Mr.  Adams's :  — 

CROWN  POINT,  July  1,  1776. 

DEAR  WIFE,  —  I  would  inform  you,  that,  through  Divine  Providence,  I 
am  alive,  but  not  over-well ;  for  by  reason  of  hard  fatigue  before  I  had  the 
small-pox,  by  marching  and  unsuitable  diet,  the  distemper  has  left  me  in  a 
poor  state  of  health,  though  I  had  it  very  light.  Ten  days  ago  I  was  sent, 
with  the  sick,  from  Isle  Aux-Noix  to  this  place,  and  have  grown  worse  rather 
than  better  since  I  came  here.  Our  army  is  very  distressed  by  reason  of  the 
small-pox.  We  have  had  four  thousand  sick  at  once.  I  have  not  lost  one  of 
my  company,  though  some  of  us  had  it  very  severe.  Sergeant  Colefix  is 
now  very  bad,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  recovers.  I  had  two  men  taken 
by  the  Indians  in  Major  Sherburn's  party,  which  are  redeemed;  and  one 
Samuel  Merry,  of  my  company,  is  either  killed  or  taken  by  the  regulars, 
going  down  on  a  raft  from  Montreal  to  Sorel.  The  distress  of  our  sick  is  so 
unaccountable  that  I  cannot  paint  it  out  by  pen  and  ink.  (All  of  my  com- 
pany have  had  it.)  If  it  was  not  for  the  danger  of  the  small-pox,  I  should 
like  to  have  brother  James  or  David  come  up  and  see  me,  and  bring  my 
horse  ;  for  I  intend  to  try  to  come  home  if  I  remain  so  poorly.  I  believe  one 
of  them  may  come  safe  by  taking  good  care  when  he  gets  here.  I  suppose 
there  are  about  four  thousand  of  the  well  of  our  army  at  Isle  Aux-Noix  ;  and 
whether  they  will  remain  there  or  come  here  I  do  not  know.  Tell  Crowner's 
wife  that  he  has  had  the  small-pox,  and  has  got  well  over  the  distemper,  but 
has  had  the  misfortune  to  have  it  fall  into  one  of  his  eyes  ;  so  that  I  am  afraid 
he  will  lose  the  sight  of  one  eye.  He  remembers  his  kind  love  to  her  and 
child.  He  intends  to  try  to  come  home  when  I  come :  he  cannot  write  for 
want  of  paper.  It  is  very  hard  living  here.  Wine  one  dollar  per  quart, 
spirits  one  dollar  per  quart,  loaf-sugar  three  shillings  per  pound,  butter  one 
shilling  and  sixpence,  none  to  be  had  for  that :  no  milk.  All  of  the  above 
articles  hardly  to  be  had.  Vinegar  three  shillings  per  quart.  I  shall  write 
no  more  at  present,  but  remain  your  loving  husband, 

DAVID  NOBLE,  Captain. 


262  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  calamitous  termination  of  the  invasion  of  Canada  brought 
to  its  culmination  the  opposition  to  Schuyler,  which  in  the  county 
of  Berkshire,  in  Bang's  Distiict,  and  on  the  New-Hampshire  Grants, 
had  been  growing  ever  since  his  appointment  to  the  northern  com- 
mand. 

An  unblemished  patriot,  a  gallant  soldier,  and  no  mean  states- 
man, Schuyler  was  yet  distinguished  by  qualities,  both  positive  and 
negative,  which  rendered  him,  if  qualified  for  any  departmental 
command,  remarkably  ill-adapted  to  that  which  was  assigned  him, 
between  a  majoiity  of  whose  people  and  himself  there  existed  an 
incompatibility  which  resulted  in  antagonism  fatal  to  the  public 
interests.  An  aristocrat  of  the  aristocrats,  he  hated  the  nonchalant 
and  robustuous  democracy  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  still  ruder 
independence  of  the  settlers  upon  The  Grants.  A  New-Yorker  of 
the  New-Yorkers,  jealous  of  the  rights  of  his  Province,  he  partici- 
pated to  the  full  in  the  feeling  excited  by  the  alleged  encroach- 
ment of  the  New-Englanders  upon  her  eastern  border,  and  was 
prepared  to  resist,  at  any  cost,  the  new  invasion  of  her  territory 
under  pretence  of  patents  from  New  Hampshire.  Intimate,  socially 
and  personally,  with  many  of  the  higher  class  of  loyalists  in 
King's  District,  he  could  not  be  made  to  believe  them  guilty  of  the 
secret  plots  against  their  country,  and  the  violation  of  their  solemn 
pledges,  of  which  they  were  popularly  accused.  Annoyed  and 
embarrassed  by  the  machinations  of  the  malignant  Tories,  he  was 
'willing  to  proceed  strenuously  against  them ;  but  he  was  indig- 
nant at  the  harshness  with  which  his  friends,  the  Van  Schaacks, 
and  others  of  like  stamp,  had  been  "  handled  "  by  the  committees. 
The  ill  blood  which  arose  in  the  district  on  this  account  between 
him  and  a  "  certain  class  of  Whigs  "  was  perhaps  more  bitter  than 
his  differences  with  the  same  class  in  Berkshire,  or  even  upon  the 
Grants. 

Coming  to  his  command  with  a  nervous  horror  of  partisan  war- 
fare, he  attributed  that  character  to  the  proud-spirited  and  am- 
bitious militia  of  the  hills,  who,  prone  to  hardy  and  independent 
enterprise,  were  not  easily  controlled,  but  kept  him  in  perpetual 
terror  of  some  rash  adventure ;  while  they  failed  him  in  executing 
his  best-laid  schemes  of  falling  back  for  an  indefinitely  postponed 
advance.  And  he  refused  to  renounce  his  prejudices  against  them, 
even  when  he  found  that  they  alone  won  victories  in  his  depart- 
ment, and,  having  won  them,  showed  a  regard  for  the  amenities 


HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD.  263 

of  honorable  warfare,  and  observed  its  laws  with  a  scrupulous 
nicety,  which  put  to  shame  the  regulars  whom  they  encountered.1 
He  failed  to  perceive  a  courtesy  which  was  not  expressed  in  courtly 
phrase,  or  to  recognize  chivalry  except  in  those  of  gentle  blood,  — 
as  gentility  went  in  Provincial  America.  As  a  soldier,  his  courage 
was  proved  ;  as  a  general,  few  in  the  American  armies  could  better 
set  a  squadron  in  the  field,  or  were  more  familiar  with  the  rules 
of  their  art.  As  a  commander  of  department,  none  labored  more 
arduously,  or  gave  themselves  with  more  untiring  zeal  and  indus- 
try to  the  unthankful  task  of  providing  material  of  war;  none 
did  so  more  unselfishly,  as  was  grandly  shown  in  his  ceaseless 
exertions  to  supply  the  northern  army  when  forbidden  to  hope  for 
any  large  share  in  the  glory  of  its  anticipated  achievements.  But 
he  was  destitute  of  that  great  element  in  generalship,  which,  given 
a  certain  soldiery  with  whom  to  accomplish  a  specific  end,  takes 
them  as  it  finds  them,  with  all  their  faults  and  with  all  their  excel- 
lences, wins  their  confidence,  and  makes  the  most  of  what  is  in 
them.  Schuyler,  on  the  contrary,  fretfully  magnified  the  imperfec- 
tions of  the  men  committed  to  him,  and  was  perversely  blind  to 
their  good  qualities  as  soldiers.  Assigned  to  a  position  surrounded 
by  innumerable  difficulties,  he  possessed  nothing  of  the  spirit 
which  delights  to  encounter  obstacles,  the  energy  which  turns 
them  to  its  own  account,  and,  least  of  all,  that  calm  strength 
which  endures  without  complaint  what  cannot  be  avoided  or 
changed. 

Much  of  that  which  was  to  be  regretted  in  him  was  the  result 
of  the  depressing  influence  of  ill  health  ;  and,  reviewing  his  career, 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  true  patriot  and  statesman,  and 
the  general  whose  abilities  would  have  given  him  perhaps  brilliant 
success  in  almost  any  other  field  than  that  in  which  he  was  placed. 

The  radical  Whigs,  who  controlled  the  politics  of  his  depart- 
ment, were  hardly  to  be  expected  so  clearly  to  perceive  his  merits. 
Between  the  Revolutionary  committees  of  that  region  and  such 
a  man  as  we  have  described,  conflict  was  inevitable.  Of  political 
and  social  sentiments  the  very  reverse  of  those  which  characterized 
Schuyler,  the  committees  were  also  extremely  unlike  him  in 
temperament  and  habits  of  thought.  Impetuous,  sometimes  even 
to  rashness,  in  their  zeal,  they  and  their  followers  were  ever  ready 

1  See,  in  illustration,  the  story  of  Ethan  Allen  and  Gen.  Prescott. 


264  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

to  rally  in  sudden  emergency,  or  for  the  execution  of  dashing 
enterprises ;  but,  if  the  opportunity  to  meet  the  enemy  was  not 
speedily  accorded  them,  they  grew  impatient  of  the  necessary 
restraint  of  military  discipline.  In  their  theory  of  the  art  of  war, 
retreat  was  omitted  from  the  list  of  contingencies.  As  a  general, 
Fabius  was  by  no  means  a  model  in  their  esteem.  Judging  the 
readiness  of  all  men  to  make  sacrifices  for  their  country  by  their 
own,  they  underrated  the  impediments  which  Schuyler  found  in 
raising  armies  and  accumulating  stores.  Intolerant  of  the  luke- 
warmness  of  moderate  Whigs  as  well  as  of  the  misdeeds  of  the 
loyalists,  they  denounced  the  former  in  no  measured  terms,  while 
they  advocated  and  practised  the  most  rigid  discipline  of  the 
latter.  Many  of  them  of  narrow  experience  in  affairs,  and  wanting 
that  liberality  towards  opponents  which  contact  with  the  great 
world  brings,  they  could  not  explain  the  perhaps  over-generous 
sentiments  of  Schuyler  towards  some  of  those  whom  they  classed 
indiscriminately  as  the  enemies  of  American  liberty,  except  upon 
the  hypothesis  of  his  sympathy  with  their  Toryism. 

When,  therefore,  information  came  to  Berkshire  and  King's 
District  of  the  sad  aspect  which  affairs  wore  in  Canada,  and  finally 
that  all  which  had  been  gained  there,  at  such  great  cost,  was 
wrested  from  the  Americans,  —  smarting  under  the  disappointment 
of  hopes  which  with  them  had  been  more  sanguine  than  else- 
where,—  the  people  of  those  districts  were  ready  to  charge  the 
commander  who,  although  not  long  personally  in  the  field,  had 
from  the  first  been  nominally  at  the  head  of  operations,  with  the 
responsibility  for  their  miserable  failure.  Among  its  prime  causes, 
they  ranked  the  brief  delay  before  St.  Johns,  to  which  he  had 
been  persuaded  by  the  report  of  a  treacherous  informer  to  the 
neglect  of  the  truthful  representations  of  John  Brown  and  James 
Livingston.  Other  missteps  of  the  expedition  were  attributed  to 
him,  oftenest  unjustly,  through  the  malignancy  of  his  enemies, 
who  played  upon  the  popular  feeling  through  unscrupulous  emis- 
saries, who  found  powerful  auxiliaries  in  Schuyler's  unfortunate 
peculiarities.  In  the  frame  of  mind  thus  produced,  the  community 
was  ready  to  credit  the  most  absurd  statements  which  jumped 
with  its  humor  of  the  hour.  Even  before  the  defeated  and  pest- 
stricken  army  reached  Crown  Point,  the  excited  feeling  among  the 
people  at  home  had  risen  to  a  height  which  invited,  what  men 
thus  frenzied  will  always  find,  witnesses  of  the  Titus  Oakes  stamp, 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  265 

ready,  for  the  sake  of  a  sorry  notoriety  and  a  petty  reward,  to  play 
upon  their  fears  and  fancies.  The  chief  among  these  was  an  in- 
former, whose  name,  like  that  of  the  other  witnesses,  was  withheld, 
on  the  pretence,  that,  if  it  was  known,  his  life  would  be  in  danger, 
and  who  related  what  one  George  Hindsdale  had  told  him  that  he 
had  heard  from  one  McDonald,  an  agent  who  had  been  sent  to 
view  the  lead-mines  at  Canaan.  Most  or  all  of  the  evidence  was 
of  this  hearsay  character,  having  often  passed  through  three  or 
four  mouths  before  it  was  deposed  before  the  committees ;  eleven 
of  which  listened  to  the  informer  just  mentioned  at  Richmond, 
Valentine  Rathbun  presiding. 

The  informers  were  credulously  favored  by  the  most  violent  and 
radical  of  the  committee-men,  whose  prominence  and  popularity 
were  augmented  by  whatever  deepened  the  general  hatred  of  the 
Tories,  and  brought  odium  upon  the  moderate  Whigs.  Out  of 
the  evidence  elicited,  this  class  formed  the  outlines  of  a  "  hellish 
plot,"  of  whose  reality  they  succeeded  in  convincing  both  them- 
selves and  a  majority  of  the  community.  This  plot,  they  imagined, 
had  been  concocted  between  Gen.  Schuyler,  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  the  New- York  Tories,  among  whom,  it  was  alleged, 
were  included  the  whole  Provincial  Congress,  with  two  exceptions 
only.  The  gist  of  the  plan  was,  that  Schuyler's  New- York  forces, 
or  as  many  of  them  as  would  not  excite  suspicion,  were  to  be 
stationed  in  a  line  of  forts  along  the  Hudson  River,  from  Canada  to 
New- York  City ;  who,  on  an  appointed  day,  wei-e  to  raise  the 
British  flag,  and  permit  the  king's  troops  to  ascend  the  river,  and 
cut  off  communication  between  the  Southern  and  Eastern  Colo- 
nies. 

So  earnest  was  the  faith  of  the  people  in  this  fiction,  that  there 
was  the  most  unbounded  terror  throughout  Berkshire,  the  north- 
ern part  of  which  was  patrolled  by  the  militia  night  and  day. 
Letters  were  also  sent  to  Gen.  Washington,  some  of  them 
charging  Schuyler  with  downright  treason ;  some,  like  one  of 
Matthew  Algate,  chairman  of  the  King's-District  committee,  only 
"  discovering  "  to  the  commander-in-chief  "  a  glimmering  of  such 
a  plot  as  had  seldom  appeared  in  the  world  since  the  fall  of  Adam 
by  the  grand  deceiver  and  supplanter  of  truth."  *  Others  left  it 
an  open  question,  whether  Schuyler  was  traitorous,  or  simply 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.  vol.  vi 

t 


206  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

incompetent.  But  all  alike  were  handed  over  by  Washington  to 
Schuyler,  with  the  warmest  expressions  of  his  continued  confidence, 
both  in  his  integrity  and  ability.  Nothing,  probably,  could  have 
been  better  adapted,  than  the  course  of  the  committees,  to  strength- 
en his  affection  for  the  accused,  who,  whatever  other  faults  he  may 
have  possessed,  he  knew  could  not  be  untrue  to  the  country  which 
trusted  him. 

The  New- York  Congress,  to  whom  Capt.  Douglas  went  person- 
ally to  prefer  charges  against  the  commander  of  the  department, 
dismissed  them  as  scornfully  as  did  Washington.  Schuyler 
demanded  a  court  of  inquiry ;  but  it  was  refused  as  unnecessary. 

Such,  briefly,  was  the  famous  affair  of  Schuyler  and  the  Berk- 
shire committees. 

We  resume  the  account  of  the  events  which  caused  the  loss  of 
Col.  Easton  and  John  Brown  to  the  Continental  Army ;  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  records  of  wrong,  and  the  refusal  of  justice,  in 
the  history  of  that  time,  or  perhaps  of  any  other. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Montgomery,  Major  Brown,  claiming  the 
rank  of  colonel,  which  had  been  given  him  by  that  commander, 
was  refused  it  by  Arnold.  He  demanded  the  reason  of  the  denial, 
and  then  first  learned  that  their  great  enemy  charged  Col.  Easton 
and  himself  with  certain  military  crimes,  of  which  the  chief  was 
plundering  the  baggage  of  British  officers  at  Sorel.  Conscious 
of  his  entire  innocence,  being  joined  by  Col.  Easton,  he  immediately 
demanded  a  court  of  inquiry,  and  challenged  Arnold  to  prove 
aught  against  him  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  an  officer  or 
a  gentleman.  Arnold  refused  to  order  the  court,  but  said  that 
the  commander-in-chief  at  Montreal  would  doubtless  give  him  the 
satisfaction  of  a  trial.  Brown  then  applied  for  permission  to  send 
an  officer  for  that  purpose  to  Gen.  Wooster.  Arnold  assented,  but 
delayed  the  departure  of  the  messenger  until  he  had  forestalled 
Brown's  application  by  a  request  that  it  might  be  denied;1  and 
he  had  sufficient  influence  at  headquarters  to  pi-event  this 
simple  act  of  justice.  At  the  same  time,  Arnold  had  written  to 
the  President  of  Congress,  making  the  same  charges  against  Brown 
and  Easton ;  alleging  that  Gen.  Montgomery  had  himself  refused 
the  promised  rank  of  the  former  on  the  ground  that  he  was  pub- 


1  A  copy  of  the  letter  in  which  this  request  was  made,  afterwards  fell  into 
Brown's  hands. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  267 

licly  impeached  of  the  plundering  at  Sorel,  and  urging  Congress 
to  refuse  the  application  which  he  anticipated  that  the  two  officers 
would  make  for  promotion.1  Gen.  Wooster  had  put  off  Col. 
Brown's  application  with  the  promise  to  attend  to  the  matter  on 
his  arrival  at  Quebec;  and  there,  on  the  1st  of  April,  Brown 
renewed  his  petition,  strongly  urging  immediate  action,  as  an  act 
of  justice,  and  deprecating  further  delay,  on  the  ground  of  the 
uncertain  future  of  war.2  But  Wooster  still  neglected  the  inves- 
tigation. Brown  then  applied  to  the  commissioners  sent  by 
Congress  to  Canada ;  and  they,  too,  refused  their  intervention. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  Gen.  Thomas  took  command  of  the  army, 
and  readily  promised  to  grant  the  court  of  inquiry  as  desired  by 
Brown.  But  the  sad  death  of  that  commander  by  small-pox,  on 
the  2d  of  June,  defeated  this,  like  many  other  good  results  which 
had  been  hoped  from  his  presence. 

Col.  Brown  now  appealed  for  the  justice  which  he  could  not 
obtain  from  the  sources  below,  to  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
department ;  but  Schuyler,  an  admirer  of  Arnold,  and  bitterly 
prejudiced  against  every  Berkshire  man,  "deemed  it  inexpedient 
to  call  a  court." 

July  came ;  and,  the  term  for  which  Col.  Brown's  little  corps  had 
re-enlisted  having  expired,  he  visited  Philadelphia,  and,  in  a  firm  and 
respectful  petition,  demanded  the  inquiry  which  he  had  not  been 
able  otherwise  to  procure;  and,  on  the  30th,  Congress  "resolved 
that  so  much  of  the  petition  of  Col.  Easton  and  Major  Brown,  as 
prays  that  the  charges  against  them,  of  having  been  concerned  in 
plundering  the  officers'  baggage  taken  at  Sorel,  be  submitted  to  a 
court  of  inquiry,  is  reasonable  ;  and  that  Gen.  Schuyler  is  desired 
to  order  courts  of  inquiry  on  them  as  soon  as  possible."  8 

On  the  1st  of  August,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of 
War,  to  whom  Brown's  petition  had  been  referred,  Congress 
determined  that  he  should  be  allowed  the  rank  and  pay  of  lieu- 
tenant-colonel from  the  20th  of  the  previous  November ;  and  that 
"James  Easton  was  entitled  to  the  rank  of  a  colonel  from  the  first 
day  of  July,  1775,  and  to  the  pay  of  a  colonel  from  that  date 
until  he  should  be  discharged,  which  ought  to  be  done  as  soon  as  a 
court  of  inquiry  should  report  in  his  favor,  or  a  court-martial  should 

1  Am.  AT.,  4th  ser.  vol.  iv.  p.  907.  2  H.  C.  Van  Schaack. 

8  Jour.  Cont.  Cong.,  1776. 


268  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

determine  upon  his  conduct,  and  their  sentence  be  carried  into 
execution — there  being  no  vacancy  to  which  he  could  be  appointed; 
but,  should  he  be  honorably  acquitted,  his  past  services  would 
recommend  him  to  the  confidence  of  Congress  for  future  employ- 
ment." l 

In  the  previous  February,  after  his  regiment  was  disbanded, 
Col.  Easton  wrote  to  Gen.  Washington,  requesting  to  be  again, 
appointed  to  the  command  of  a  regiment  iu  the  northern  army ; 
alleging  that  the  application  was  made  "in  faithfulness  to  the  dear 
deceased  Gen.  Montgomery  and  his  commands,  and  obliged  by  a 
love  of  liberty  and  his  country."  "  You  will  see,  sir,"  said  he,  "  by 
the  letters  and  orders  enclosed,  the  minds  of  the  generals  who 
wrote  them."  Washington  replied,  through  his  aid,  that,  not 
knowing  how  matters  stood  with  regard  to  Easton's  command,  he 
thought  it  necessary  to  refer  the  case  to  Congress,  if  Col.  Easton 
wished  to  raise  a  new  regiment,  and  advised  him  to  repair  to  Phil- 
adelphia, and  produce  there  the  honorable  testimonials  of  his  merit 
which  he  had  sent  for  his  own  examination.  "  The  services  you 
have  done  your  country  in  the  last  campaign,"  said  the  writer, 
"  mentioned  in  the  letters  to  you  from  the  late  gallant  Gen.  Mont- 
gomery, merit  the  acknowledgment  of  the  public." 

Col.  Easton  accordingly  repaired  to  Philadelphia  in  April,  and 
there  laid  before  Congress,  not  only  the  request  which  he  had 
made  to  Washington,  but  also  petitions  regarding  other  matters, 
which  will  appear  from  the  action  of  that  body  upon  them. 

Col.  Easton's  claims  for  his  services  in  the  surprise  of  Ticonder- 
oga  were  referred  to  the  committee  of  Albany,  the  claims  of  all 
other  persons  engaged  in  that  affair  having  been  disposed  of  in 
the  same  manner.  It  was  resolved,  that  "as,  from  the  testimonials 
produced  by  the  petitioner,  it  appeared  that  he  and  his  battalion 
behaved  with  great  diligence,  activity,  and  spirit,  in  the  successful 
enterprise  against  Gen.  Prescott,  and  the  vessels  and  troops  under 
his  command,"  after  the  surrender  of  Montreal,  and  that,  "to 
encourage  the  parties  employed  in  that  important  service,  Gen. 
Montgomery  promised  them  all  the  public  stores,  except  ammuni- 
tion and  provisions,  which  should  be  taken  in  the  vessels;  and  as 
the  petitioner  alleged  that  no  part  of  those  stores  was  delivered, 
nor  any  composition  made  to  the  troops  concerned  in  the  acquisi- 

1  Am.  Ar.,  5th  ser.  vol.  i.  p.  1597. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  269 

tion," — therefore  it  was  recommended  to  the  general  commanding 
in  Canada  to  appoint  commissioners  to  estimate  the  stores,  and  pay 
the  value  thereof  to  the  officers  and  men  employed  in  that  service, 
in  such  proportions  as  the  commissioners  should  determine.  As 
the  petitioner's  account  of  regimental  receipts  and  disbursements 
on  which  he  claimed  a  balance  due  could  only  be  adjusted  in  Can- 
ada, the  settlement  was  referred  to  the  Congressional  commissioners 
in  that  Province.  But,  as  Col.  Easton  was  in  want  of  money,  two 
hundred  dollars  were  ordered  to  be  advanced  him. 

With  regard  to  Col.  Easton's  request  respecting  a  court  of  in- 
quiry concerning  his  own  conduct  and  that  of  Major  Brown  in  the 
Sorel  affair,  "  as  Gen.  Arnold  had,  on  the  first  of  February,  alleged 
to  Congress  that  both  officers  were  accused  of  acts  which  would 
bring  great  scandal  upon  the  American  arms,  and  produce  great 
disgust  in  the  army  in  general,  if  either  of  them  were  promoted 
until  these  matters  were  cleared  up ;  and  as  Easton  asserted  his 
innocence,  declaring  that  he  neither  plundered,  nor  directed,  nor 
was  privy  to  the  plundering  of  any  prisoner,  or  other  person  whatso- 
ever; considering,  therefore,  on  one  hand,  the  aggravated  nature 
of  this  charge,  which  was  an  impediment  to  the  petitioner's  promo- 
tion, and,  on  the  other,  the  great  confidence  reposed  in  him  by 
Gen.  Montgomery,  and  the  essential  service  which  he  had  ren- 
dered his  country,"  —  Congress  instructed  its  commissioners  in 
Canada  to  institute  an  inquiry,  by  court-martial  or  otherwise,  into 
the  charges  against  him,  giving  him  an  opportunity  of  making  his 
defence,  and  to  transmit  their  proceedings  thereon  to  Congress,  in 
order  that  justice  might  be  done  the  petitioner  if  he  had  been 
accused  without  sufficient  reason.1  But  a  new  difficulty  here  beset 
the  unfortunate  colonel,  whether  by  the  instigation  of  Arnold 
does  not  appear.  He  was  arrested,  and  thrown  into  prison,  for  a 
debt  of  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  "  York  currency,"  and  had  no 
remedy  but  to  apply  to  Congress,  which  he  did  in  the  following 
terms,  after  acknowledging  his  indebtedness  for  the  sum  for  which 
he  was  sued,  and  nine  hundred  pounds  in  addition  :  — 

"  I  have  due  two  thousand  pounds  lawful  money.  My  creditors  have  a 
landed  security  of  what  I  value  at  three  thousand  pounds  lawful  money. 
In  several  letters  they  have  received  from  me  since  I  came  to  this  place, 
I  have  offered  my  land  and  my  outstanding  debts  at  an  honest  appraisal ; 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.,  vol.  v.  p.  1690. 


270  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

in  short,  I  have  done  every  thing  in  my  power  to  get  a  settlement,  but  have 
heard  nothing  from  them.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  obliging  people  to  pay 
their  debts  in  the  Massachusetts  by  the  resolves  of  the  honorable  Congress. 
I  ought  to  be  on  my  way  to  Canada.  This  settlement  with  the  commission- 
ers appointed  by  Congress  requires  it ;  a  settlement  of  my  regimental 
accounts  of  five  captains  still  in  the  service  at  Canada,  the  getting  the 
stores  and  vessels  taken  by  the  regiment  appraised,  the  court  of  inquiry  to 
be  holden  there  in  regard  to  Major  Brown  and  myself,  and  many  other 
important  matters,  all  urge  it ;  in  short,  I  am  in  pain  to  see  the  event  of 
Quebec." l 

Congress  granted  the  enlargement  requested  by  Col.  Easton, 
and  he  returned  to  Canada ;  but,  before  he  reached  that  Province, 
it  had  been  evacuated  by  the  American  forces,  and  he  appears  to 
have  profited  nothing  by  the  Congressional  orders  in  his  favor. 
From  that  time  he  seems  to  have  abandoned  in  despair  the 
attempt  to  obtain  justice,  at  least  against  Arnold,  and  remained 
inactive,  save  when  volunteering  in  the  militia,  winch  he  did  as 
often  as  opportunity  presented. 

Col.  Brown  was  more  persistent;  and  having  armed  himself 
with  the  order  of  Congress  passed  in  July,  for  a  court  of  inquiry 
in  his  case,  and  its  confirmation  of  his  rank  as  lieutenant-colonel 
in  August,  and  being  assigned  to  Col.  Elmore's  Connecticut  regi- 
ment, —  he  returned  to  the  army  in  the  latter  month,  and  forwarded 
his  papers  to  Gen.  Gates,  who  had,  for  a  time,  supplanted  Schuy- 
ler  in  the  northern  command.  From  him,  he  asked  a  compliance 
with  the  directions  of  Congress :  but  Arnold,  who  had  acquired 
even  greater  influence  over  the  new  and  less  manly  commander 
than  he  had  possessed  with  Schuyler,  was  able  to  ward  off  the 
investigation,  which,  with  good  reason,  he  dreaded ;  and,  on  his 
instigation,  Gates  had  the  assurance  to  refer  the  matter  to  the 
Board  of  War. 

Wearied  with  vain  efforts  to  obtain  a  vindication  of  his  charac- 
ter by  a  court  of  inquiry  upon  his  own  conduct,  and  hopeless  of 
effecting  it  in  that  manner,  Col.  Brown  now  adopted  a  new  line 
of  procedure,  and  preferred  to  Gen.  Gates  the  following  serious 
charges  against  Arnold,  whom  he  insisted  should  be  arrested,  and 
tried  upon  the  several  specifications:  — 

1  Am.  Ar.,  4th  ser.,  vol.  v.  p.  1234. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  271 

To  the  Honorable   HORATIO  GATES,  ESQ.,  Major-General  in  the  Army  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  commanding  at  Albany. 

Humbly  sheweth,  that,  in  the  month  of  February  last,  Brig.-Gen.  Arnold 
transmitted  to  the  honorable  Continental  Congress,  an  unjustifiable,  false, 
wicked,  and  malicious  accusation  against  me,  and  my  character  as  an  officer 
in  their  service,  at  the  time  when  I  was  under  his  immediate  command ; 
that,  had  there  been  the  least  ground  for  such  an  accusation,  the  author 
thereof  had  it  in  his  power  —  indeed,  it  was  his  duty  —  to  have  me  brought 
to  a  fair  trial  by  a  general  court-martial  in  the  country  where  the  pretended 
crime  is  said  to  have  originated ;  that  I  was  left  to  the  necessity  of  applying 
to  Congress,  not  only  for  the  charge  against  me,  but  for  an  order  for  a  court 
of  inquiry  on  my  own  conduct  in  respect  thereto ;  that,  in  consequence 
of  my  application,  I  obtained  a  positive  order  of  Congress  to  the  then 
general  *  commanding  the  Northern  Department  for  a  court  of  inquiry, 
before  whom  I  might  justify  my  injured  character ;  that  the  said  order  was 
transmitted  to  your  Honor  at  Ticonderoga,  in  the  month  of  August  last; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  most  ardent  solicitations  on  my  part,  the  order  of 
Congress  has  not  yet  been  complied  with;  that,  upon  my  renewing  my 
application  to  your  Honor  for  a  court  of  inquiry,  you  were  pleased  to  re- 
fer me  to  the  Board  of  War. 

Thus  I  have  been  led  an  expensive  dance,  from  generals  to  Congress,  and 
from  Congress  to  generals ;  and  I  am  now  referred  to  a  Board  of  War,  who, 
I  venture  to  say,  have  never  yet  taken  cognizance  of  any  such  matter ;  nor 
do  I  think  it,  with  great  submission  to  your  Honor,  any  part  of  their  duty. 
I  must  therefore  conclude,  that  this  information,  from  the  mode  of  its  origin, 
as  well  as  from  the  repeated  evasions  of  a  fair  hearing,  is  now  rested  upon 
the  author's  own  shoulders.  ,:  * 

I  therefore  beg  that  your  Honor  will  please  to  order  Brig.-Gen.  Arnold  in 
arrest  for  the  following  crimes,  which  I  am  ready  to  verify,  viz. :  — 

1st.  For  endeavoring  to  asperse  your  petitioner's  personal  character  in 
the  most  infamous  manner.  • 

2d.  For  unwarrantably  degrading  and  reducing  the  rank  conferred  on 
your  petitioner  by  his  (Gen.  Arnold's)  superior  officer,  and  subjecting  your 
petitioner  to  serve  in  an  inferior  rank  to  that  to  which  he  had  been  appointed. 

3d.  For  ungentlemanlike  conduct  in  his  letter  to  Gen.  Wooster,  of  the 
25th  of  January  last,  charging  your  petitioner  with  a  falsehood,  and  in  a 
private  manner,  which  is  justly  chargeable  on  himself. 

4th.  For  suffering  the  small-pox  to  spread  in  the  camp  before  Quebec,  and 
promoting  inoculation  there  in  the  Continental  army. 

5th.  For  depriving  a  part  of  the  army  under  his  command  of  their  usual 
allowance  of  provisions  ordered  by  Congress. 

6th.  For  interfering  with  and  countermanding  the  order  of  his  superior 
officer. 

7th.  For  plundering  the  inhabitants  of  Montreal,  in  direct  violation  of  a 


272  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

solemn  capitulation,  or  agreement,  entered  into  with  them  by  our  late  brave 
and  worthy  Gen.  Montgomery,  to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  the  Continental 
arms. 

8th.  For  giving  unjustifiable,  unwarrantable,  cruel,  and  bloody  orders, 
directing  whole  villages  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  put  to 
death  by  fire  and  sword,  without  any  distinction  to  friend  or  foe,  age  or  sex. 

9th.  For  entering  into  an  unwarran table,  unjustifiable,  and  partial  agree- 
ment with  Capt.  Foster  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  taken  at  the  Cedars, 
without  the  knowledge,  advice,  or  consent  of  any  officer  then  there  present 
with  him  on  the  spot. 

10th.  For  ordering  inoculation  of  the  Continental  Army  at  Sorel,  without 
the  knowledge  of,  and  contrary  to  the  intentions  of,  the  general  commanding 
that  Northern  Department ;  by  which  fatal  consequences  ensued. 

llth.  For  great  misconduct  in  his  command  of  the  Continental  fleet  on 
Lake  Champlain,  which  occasioned  the  loss  thereof. 

12th.  For  great  misconduct  during  his  command  from  the  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  the  year  1775,  until  he  was  superseded  by  Gen.  Montgomery, 
at  Point  Aux-Tremble,  near  Quebec. 

13th.  For  disobedience  of  the  orders  of  his  superior  officers,  while  acting 
by  a  commission  from  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay ;  and  for  a  disobedience  of  the  orders  of  a  committee  of  the 
same  Congress,  sent  from  that  State  to  inspect  his  conduct,  and  also  for 
insulting,  abusing,  and  imprisoning  the  said  committee ;  as  also  for  a  treason- 
able attempt  to  make  his  escape  with  the  navigation  men,  at  or  near  Ticon- 
deroga,  to  the  enemy  at  St.  Johns,  which  obliged  the  then  commanding 
officer  at  Ticonderoga  and  its  dependencies  to  issue  a  positive  order  to  the 
officers  commanding  our  batteries  at  Crown  Point,  to  stop  or  sink  the  vessels 
attempting  to  pass  that  post,  and  by  force  of  arms  to  make  a  prisoner  of  the 
said  Gen.  Arnold  (then  a  colonel),  which  was  accordingly  done. 

JOHX  BROWN,  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
ALBANY,  1st.  Dec.,  1776.1 

Col.  Brown  transmitted  this  impeachment  to  Congress  as  well 
as  to  Gates ;  but  such  was  the  reputation  and  favor  which  Arnold's 
dash  and  gallantry,  shrewdly  turned  to  account  by  his  meanly 
intriguing  spirit,  had  won  for  him,  that  nothing  came  of  either 
presentment. 

Congress  allowed  its  admiration  for  one  bold  and  active 
officer  to  lead  it  into  gross  injustice  towards  another.  Nothing, 
therefore,  was  left  to  Brown  but  to  appeal  to  still  another  tribunal, 
—  the  people  of  the  country.  This  he  did  in  a  paper  which  was 

1  H.  C.  V.  S.  Col. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  273 

published  at  Pittsfield,  April  12,  1777.1  The  substance  of  its 
contents  is  contained  in  the  foregoing  pages,  and  we  quote  but 
one  paragraph :  — 

"  I  appeal  to  every  person  of  common  understanding,  whether  in  a  mili- 
tary character  or  not,  that,  if  Gen.  Arnold  did  not  know  himself  guilty  of 
the  charges  laid  against  him,  he  would  not  have  endeavored  to  bring  himself 
to  a  trial,  to  clear  up  his  character,  which,  had  he  been  able  to  do,  he  cer- 
tainly might  have  called  his  impeachers  to  account  for  false  and  malicious 
charges,  and  put  the  saddle  upon  the  other  horse ;  but,  very  far  from  this,  he 
has  used  every  possible  art  to  prevent  a  trial,  as  if  his  character  was  not 
worth  a  sixpence." 

In  the  winter  of  1777  occurred  an  incident  which  is  thus  related 
in  Col.  Stone's  Life  of  Brant :  — 

"During  the  winter  of  1776-7,  while  Arnold  and  many  of  the  officers 
were  quartered  at  Albany,  .  .  .  Arnold  was  at  the  head  of  a  mess  of  six- 
teen or  eighteen  officers,  among  whom  was  Col.  Morgan  Lewis.  Col.  Brown 
having  weak  eyes,  and  being  obliged  to  live  abstemiously,  occupied  quar- 
ters affording  greater  retirement.  .  .  .  Col.  Brown  published  a  hand- 
bill, attacking  Arnold  with  great  severity,  rehearsing  the  suspicious  circum- 
stances that  had  occurred  at  Sorel ;  and  upbraiding  him  for  sacking  the  city 
of  Montreal  while  he  was  in  the  occupancy  of  that  place.  The  handbill 
concluded  with  these  remarkable  words:  'Money  is  this  man's  God;  and,  to 
get  enough  of  it,  he  would  sacrifice  his  country.' 

"  Such  a  publication  could  not  but  produce  a  great  sensation  among  the 
officers.  It  was  received  at  Arnold's  quarters  while  the  mess  were  at  dinner, 
and  read  aloud  at  the  table ;  the  accused  himself  sitting  at  the  head.  Arnold, 
of  course,  was  greatly  excited,  and  applied  a  variety  of  epithets,  coarse  and 
harsh,  to  Col.  Brown,  pronouncing  him  a  scoundrel,  and  declaring  that  he 
would  kick  him  whenever  and  wherever  he  should  meet  him.  One  of  the 
officers  present  remarked  that  Col.  Brown  was  his  friend,  and  that,  as  the 
remarks  just  applied  to  him  had  been  so  publicly  made,  he  presumed  there 
could  be  no  objection  to  his  repeating  them  to  that  officer.  Arnold  replied, 
'  Certainly  not ; '  adding,  that  he  should  feel  himself  obliged  to  any  officer 
who  would  inform  Col.  Brown  of  what  he  had  said.  The  officer  replied,  that 
he  should  do  so  before  he  slept.  Under  these  circumstances,  no  time  was 
lost  in  making  the  communication  to  Col.  Brown.  Col.  Lewis  himself  called 
upon  Brown  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  and  the  matter  was  the  principal 
topic  of  conversation. 

"  The  colonel  was  a  mild  and  amiable  man,  and  he  made  no  remark  of  par- 
ticular harshness  or  bitterness  in  respect  to  Arnold ;  but,  towards  the  close  of 

*  H.  C.  V.  S.  Col. 
18 


274  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD 

the  interview,  he  observed,  '  Well,  Lewis,  I  wish  you  would  invite  me  to  dine 
with  your  mess  to-morrow.' 

"  '  With  all  my  heart,'  was  the  reply.     '  Will  you  come  ? ' 

"  Brown  said  he  would,  and  they  parted. 

"  The  next  day,  near  the  time  of  serving  dinner,  Col.  Brown  arrived, 
and  was  ushered  in. 

"  The  table  was  spread  in  a  long  room,  at  one  end  of  which  the  door  opened 
directly  opposite  to  the  fireplace  at  the  other.  Arnold  was  standing  at  the 
moment  with  his  back  to  the  fire  ;  so  that,  as  Brown  opened  the  door,  they 
at  once  encountered  each  other  face  to  face.  It  was  a  moment  of  breathless 
interest  for  the  result.  Brown  walked  calmly  in,  and,  turning  to  avoid  the 
table,  passed  around  with  a  deliberate  step,  and,  advancing  up  close  to 
Arnold,  stopped,  and  looked  directly  in  his  eye.  After  the  pause  of  a  mo- 
ment, he  observed,  '  /  understand,  sir,  that  you  have  said  you  would  kick  me. 
I  now  present  myself  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to  put  your  threat  into  execu- 
tion." Another  brief  pause  ensued.  Arnold  opened  not  his  lips.  Brown 
then  said  to  him,  '  Sir,  you  are  a  dirty  scoundrel.'  Arnold  was  still  silent 
as  the  Sphinx :  whereupon  Brown  turned  upon  his  heel  with  dignity,  apolo- 
gized to  the  gentlemen  present  for  his  intrusion,  and  left  the  room. 

"  This  was  certainly  an  extraordinary  scene ;  and  more  extraoi-dinary  still 
is  the  fact  that  the  particulars  have  never  been  communicated  in  any  way  to 
the  public.  Arnold  certainly  did  not  lack  personal  bravery ;  and  the  un- 
broken silence  preserved  by  him  on  this  occasion  can  only  be  accounted  for 
upon  the  supposition  that  he  feared  to  provoke  inquiry  upon  the  subject, 
while  at  the  same  tune  he  could  throw  himself  upon  his  well-attested  courage 
and  rank  as  excuses  for  not  stooping  to  a  controversy  with  a  subordinate 
officer.  But  it  still  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  personal 
interviews  to  be  found  among  the  memorabilia  of  military  men. l  " 

Arnold  in  May,  1777,  forwarded  to  Congress  a  copy  of  Brown's 
Pittsfield  appeal,  which  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  War, 
"  together  with  such  complaints  as  had  been  lodged  against  Gen. 
Arnold."  But  the  Board,  acting  entirely  exparte,  giving  no  notice 
to  Brown,  or  any  other  complainant,  that  they  might  appear  and 
substantiate,  if  they  were  able,  the  truth  of  their  charges,  acquitted 
Arnold  on  the  strength  of  his  own  assertions,  corroborated  by  the 
statements  of  Carroll  of  Carrolton,  who  had  been  one  of  the  com- 
mittee to  visit  Canada,  but  had  had  no  opportunity  personally  to 
know  the  facts.  And  the  Board  not  only  acquitted  Arnold  in  this 
strange  way,  but  convicted  Brown  without  a  hearing  —  notwith- 
standing his  long  seeking  for  open  trial  and  even-handed  justice  — 

1  The  particulars  of  this  story  were  derived  by  Col.  Stone  from  the  lips  of  Col. 
Lewis  himself. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  275 

of  having  "cruelly  and  unjustly  aspersed  the  character"  of  the 
man  who  had  as  sedulously  avoided  scrutiny  as  his  accusers  had 
courted  it. 

Col.  Brown  knew  nothing  of  these  proceedings  until  the  follow- 
ing November.  On  the  22d  of  the  previous  February,  he  had 
resigned  his  commission  in  the  Continental  army,  being  "deter- 
mined that  no  power  on  earth  should  force  him  to  serve  with  an 
officer  who  was  impeached  of  treason  and  every  thing  else,  unless 
he  was  brought  to  justice."  He  now  forwarded  to  Congress  the 
following  spirited  remonstrance l  in  which  he  exposed  'pointedly 
and  forcibly  the  absurdity  and  illegality  of  their  conduct  in  the  case, 
and  the  gross  injustice  which  had  been  perpetrated  against  himself. 

To  THE  HONORABLE  THE  CONGRESS. 

The  Memorial  and  Remonstrance  of  John  Brown  of  the  State  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  humbly  sheweth,  That  in  the  month  of  March,  1777, 
your  petitioner  was  passing  through  Yorktown  to  the  southward,  when  he 
waited  on  the  Honorable  Charles  Thompson,  Esq.,  Secretary  to  Congress, 
who  favored  your  petitioner  with  a  copy  of  the  very  extraordinary  trial  of 
Gen.  Arnold,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"  In  Congress,  May  20,  1777. —  A  letter  of  this  date  from  Gen.  Arnold, 
with  a  printed  paper  enclosed,  '  signed  John  Brown,'  was  read.  Ordered, 
That  the  same  be  referred  to  the  Board  of  War,  together  with  such  com- 
plaints as  have  been  lodged  against  Gen.  Arnold." 

By  this  your  petitioner  would  suppose,  that  the  Board  of  War  were 
directed,  not  only  to  take  into  consideration  his  complaint,  but  all  others  that 
had  been  lodged  against  Gen.  Arnold,  particularly  those  lodged  by  a  gene- 
ral court-martial,  composed  of  thirteen  of  the  principal  officers  at  Ticonde- 
roga,  in  the  year  1776,  as  well  as  those  lodged  by  Col.  Hazen  and  others, 
although  it  does  not  appear  that  any  other  matter  of  complaint  was  deter- 
mined upon  but  that  contained  in  ^ie  handbill,  signed  John  Brown,  on 
which  the  Board  of  War  reported,  — 

"  That  the  general  laid  before  them  a  variety  of  original  letters,  orders, 
and  other  papers,  which,  together  with  the  general's  account  of  his  conduct, 
confirmed  by  Mr.  Carroll,  one  of  the  late  commissioners  in  Canada,  and  now 
a  member  of  this  Board,  have  given  entire  satisfaction  to  this  Board  con- 
cerning the  general's  character,  so  cruelly  and  groundlessly  aspersed  in  the 
publication." 

Your  petitioner  begs  leave  to  affirm,  that  Mr.  Carroll,  whatever  he  might 
wish,  knew  nothing,  more  or  less,  as  a  witness  concerning  the  charge  laid 
against  Gen.  Arnold,  owing  to  an  unlucky  alibi  which  happened  with  respect 
to  him,  in  regard  to  all  the  charges  laid  in  the  complaint.  Still,  how  far  his 

1  Collection  of  H.  C.  Van  Schaack,  Esq. 


276  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

evidence  might  go  in  assisting  General  Arnold  in  proving  his  negatives,  I  do 
not  pretend  to  say,  as  this  is  to  me  an  entirely  new  mode  of  trial.  First, 
because  one  of  the  parties  was  not  notified,  or  present  at  the  same,  conse- 
quently ex  parte.  unconstitutional,  and  illegal  on  every  principle.  Secondly, 
because  there  was  not  one  witness  present  at  the  trial  who  ever  had  it  in  his 
power  to  know  any  thing  of  his  own  knowledge  respecting  one  of  the  charges 
laid  in  the  complaint.  Thirdly,  with  great  submission  to  the  honorable  Con- 
gress, they  had  not  the  least  right  to  take  cognizance  of  the  crimes  mentioned 
in  my  complaint.  For  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  them 
to  the  military  laws  by  them  composed  and  instituted  for  the  regulation  of 
the  army,  which  are  the  only  security  and  protection  of  the  officers  and 
soldiers  belonging  to  the  same ;  consequently  no  other  court  or  tribunal  can 
have  any  right  to  take  cognizance  of  the  crimes  mentioned  in  my  complaint, 
but  that  of  a  court-martial,  and  therefore  the  trial  of  the  general,  above 
recited,  was  a  nullity,  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 

However,  should  your  Congress  be  of  a  different  opinion  respecting  this 
matter,  and  that  the  trial  of  Gen.  Arnold  was  legal  and  constitutional,  he 
then  expects  that  Congress  will  give  him  the  same  indulgences  and  latitude, 
and  that  he  may  be  heard  by  Congress  on  the  subject  of  his  impeachment 
of  the  general,  in  which  case  the  general's  presence  and  witnesses  will  not 
be  necessary. 

Your  petitioner  therefore  esteems  it  a  great  grievance,  that  Congress,  by 
the  trial  aforesaid,  have  resolved  and  published,  and  authorized  Gen.  Arnold 
to  publish  to  the  world,  that  he,  your  petitioner,  has  been  guilty  of  publish- 
ing false  and  groundless  assertions  and  complaints  against  a  general  officer, 
when,  at  the  same  time,  every  article  in  the  impeachment  was  sacredly  true, 
and  could  have  been  proved  so  could  a  proper  trial  have  been  obtained, 
of  which  Gen.  Arnold  was  well  apprised,  or  he  would  have  been  as  fond  of 
his  trial  in  the  army  as  his  impeachers  were.  It  is  possible  that  Gen.  Arnold 
might  have  suggested  to  Congress  that  your  petitioner  was  not  an  officer  at 
the  time  he  solicited  his  trial.  As  to  this  matter,  your  petitioner  has  not  as 
yet  been  informed  whether  his  resignation  has  been  accepted  or  not.  Indeed, 
he  cannot  suppose  it  compatible  with*  the  wisdom  and  dignity  of  Congress 
to  discharge  any  of  their  officers  for  the  reasons  set  forth  in  your  petitioner's 
letter  accompanying  his  resignation,  as  he  then  stood  impeached  by  the 
same  Gen.  Arnold  of  high  crimes,  which,  if  true,  affected  the  reputation 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  Gen.  Arnold's  sacred  character  stood  impeached 
by  your  petitioner  of  thirteen  capital  charges,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  those 
most  knowing,  might  have  effected  the  loss  of  that  honest  man  in  conse- 
quence of  a  proper  trial'  before  a  generous  court-martial.  Your  petitioner 
presumes  his  resignation  was  not  accepted  by  Congress.  Let  this  matter 
be  as  it  may,  Congress  is  sensible  that  he  was  not  out  of  service  from  the 
commencement  of  the  war  until  the  reduction  of  the  British  army  under 
Gen.  Burgoyne,  in  which  he  arrogates  to  himself  some  share  of  credit  (since 
no  one  else  is  willing  to  give  it  to  him.)  Your  petitioner  is  sensible,  that 


HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  277 

Congress,  at  the  time  of  Arnold's  application  for  a  trial,  were  embarrassed 
on  all  questions,  and  no  doubt  labored  under  high  prejudice  with  respect  to 
your  petitioner's  character,  owing,  perhaps,  to  representation  made  there  by 
Gen.  Gates,  who,  it  is  possible,  has  been  mistaken  in  his  friend  Arnold ; 
which  prejudices  your  petitioner  hopes  time  and  events  have  eradicated. 
He  can  assure  Congress  that  he  hopes  and  wishes  for  nothing  but  common 
justice,  although  the  history  of  the  war,  and  his  present  infirmities  incurred 
therein,  might  entitle  him  to  something  more.  But  to  stand  convicted,  by  a 
decree  of  Congress,  of  publishing  cruel  and  groundless  libels,  without  a 
hearing,  while  actually  fighting  for  liberty,  is  intolerable  in  a  free  country, 
and  has  a  direct  tendency  to  check  the  ambition,  and  even  disaffect  those  men 
by  whose  wisdom,  valor,  and  perseverance  America  is  to  be  made  free,  not  to 
mention  the  dangerous  precedent  such  trials  may  afford.  Your  petitioner, 
therefore,  implores  your  House  to  reconsider  their  determination  on  his  im- 
peachment of  Gen.  Arnold,  as  there  cannot,  at  this  date,  exist  a  possibility 
of  doubt  that  the  same  was  presented,  and  furnished  Gen.  Arnold  with  a 
foundation  to  establish  a  character  on  the  ruins  of  a  man,  who,  to  speak 
moderately,  has  rendered  his  country  as  essential  service  as  that  dangerous 
general,  whose  reasons  for  evading  a  trial  at  a  proper  tribunal  are  very 
obvious,  and  fully  suggested  in  my  impeachment  on,  which  the  general  had 
his  trial,  by  which  it  appears  that  Gen.  Arnold  was  rescued  out  of  the  hands 
of  justice  by  mere  dint  of  authority  exercised  by  Gen.  Gates.  Your 
petitioner,  relying  on  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  Congress,  begs  leave  to 
subscribe  himself  most  respectfully 

Their  very  obedient,  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BROWN. 

Having  now  rid  himself  of  connection  with  a  service  in  which 
its  most  corrupt,  treacherous,  and  dangerous  officer  was  able  to 
wield  so  potent  and  mysterious  an  influence,  Col.  Brown  returned 
to  Pittsfield,  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  middle  regiment  of 
Berkshire  militia-,  and  in  that  capacity  sought,  and,  as  we  shall 
see,  not  in  vain,  to  serve  his  country  faithfully,  and  win  honor  for 
himself. 

Three  years  afterwards,  John  Brown  lay  dead  on  the  battle- 
field, where  he  fell  fighting  for  the  country  which  had  refused  him 
the  simplest  justice.  Benedict  Arnold  was  a  fugitive  in  the  army 
of  her  enemies ;  and  all  men  believed  what  had  been  vainly  charged 
upon  him  in  1777. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  INVASION  OF  BURGOYNE,  AND  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON. 

[I777-] 

Pittsfield  Soldiers  for  the  Continental  Army.  —  Apprehensions  of  Invasion  from 
Canada.  —  A  Petition  of  1775.  —  Pittsfield  responds  to  Calls  for  Men.  —  Sends 
Companies  to  Ticonderoga  in  December  and  April.  —  Burgoyne  approaches. 

—  Extracts  from  Mr.  Allen's  Diary  at  Ticonderoga.  —  He  addresses  the  Soldiers 
of  the  Garrison.  — Evacuation  of  Ticonderoga.  —  Feeling  at  Pittsfield  regarding 
it.  —  Correspondence  of  Gen.  Schuyler.  —  Schuyler  and  the  Berkshire  Militia. 

—  Baum's  Expedition  marches  on  Bennington. — Met  by  Stark.  —  Rally  of 
the  Berkshire  Militia.  —  Pittsfield  Volunteers.  —  Anecdote  of  an  Indian  Scout. 

—  Anecdotes  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen.  —  He  fires  the  First  Gun  at  the  Bennington 
Fight. — Anecdote  of  Linus  Parker.  —  Route  of  the  British  Forces. — Effect 
of  the  Victory  on  the  Country.  —  Col.  Brown's  Lake  George  Expedition.  —  His 
Brilliant  Success.  —  Surrender  of  Burgoyne.  —  His  March  through  Pittsfield.  — 
Quaint  Patriotic  Verses. 

THE  year  1777  was  distinguished  in  the  Revolutionary  annals 
of  Pittsfield  for  the  extraordinary  sacrifices  and  exertions 
required  of  her  people,  as  well  as  for  the  brilliancy  of  the  exploits 
in  which  they  conspicuously  shared.  At  midsummer,  after  months 
of  incessant  anxiety,  hostile  troops  approached  nearer  to  her  bor- 
ders than  at  any  other  time  since  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian 
Wars;  bringing  her  within  the  purposed  scope  of  an  invasion 
characterized  in  an  unusual  degree  by  elements  designed  and  well 
fitted  to  spread  terror  among  the  non-combatant  population. 
From  April  to  November  was  a  period  of  continued  excitement 
and  alarm;  of  frequent  calls  upon  her  militia,  promptly  met, 
although  at  the  most  inopportune  moment  for  the  farmer;  of 
disasters  which  only  inspired  new  vigor  and  patriotic  devotion ;  of 
successes  which  flashed  hope  and  light  over  the  nation  at  the 
moment  of  its  deepest  despondency  and  gloom. 

The  feeble  remnant  of  the  splendid  company,  which,  under  David 
Noble,  had  joined  Patterson's  regiment  in  1775,  after  participating, 
278 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  279 

during  the  last  days  of  its  service,  in  the  glories  and  dangers  of 
Princeton  and  Trenton,  had  been  dismissed  on  the  last  day  of  1776. 
Only  six  Pittsfield  soldiers  remained  in  the  Continental  service 
during  the  succeeding  winter;  but  these  formed  part  of  that  noble 
though  crippled  army  with  which  Washington  baffled  the  superb 
legions  of  Howe  in  New  Jersey,  and  finally  drove  them  from  that 
State. 

In  the  spring,  Pittsfield  responded  to  the  call  made  upon  her  in 
common  with  the  other  towns  of  Massachusetts,  by  furnishing 
to  the  depleted  armies  of  Washington  twenty-four  men,  —  more 
than  one-seventh  of  the  entire  number  enrolled  in  her  militia,  It 
was  also  voted  by  the  town  to  purchase  for  each  a  shirt,  a  pair 
of  shoes  and  stockings,  and  "  that  the  assessors  take  the  town's 
money  in  the  hands  of  Col.  Williams,  and  purchase  the  same 
immediately."  Capts.  Goodrich  and  Rufus  Allen  were  also  direct- 
ed to  forward  the  money  and  clothing  collected  for  the  soldiers  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  who  appears  to  have  managed  what  answered 
for  a  Christian  and  Sanitary  Commission. 

At  the  moment  when  the  town  was  thus  so  liberally  performing 
its  duties  as  regarded  the  national  armies,  it  was  justly  apprehend- 
ing the  approach  of  an  invader  which  it  would  tax  all  the  re- 
sources of  the  section  to  which  it  belonged  to  resist,  and  whose 
success  would  be  fraught  with  misery,  even  beyond  that  which  or- 
dinarily awaits  a  conquered  people. 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  the  Revolutionary  contest,  among  the 
threats  with  which  the  Tories  had  exasperated,  while  vainly 
attempting  to  intimidate,  the  patriots,  the  most  odious  was,  that 
the  savages  would  be  brought  upon  their  rear,  while  the  regulars 
assailed  them  in  front ;  and  the  committees  obtained  evidence  that 
it  was  really  the  purpose  of  the  king's  commanders  to  effect  an 
alliance  with  the  Indians,  which  they  suspected  to  be  for  the  pur- 
pose of  an  incursion  as  well  as  for  the  defence  of  Canada,  to 
which  the  honorable  scruples  of  Carleton  confined  it. 

John  Brown,  while  a  representative  from  Pittsfield  and  Par- 
tridgefield,  in  February,  1775,  presented  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
a  petition  —  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  signers,  and  probably  the 
author  —  from  the  committees  of  the  several  towns  in  Hampshire 
and  Berkshire,  asking  for  a  better  supply  of  arms  to  their  militia, 
and  stating  their  reasons  in  the  following  paragraph :  — 


280  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

"  The  enemies  of  these  Colonies  frequently  throw  out  that  administration 
have  concluded  a  bloody  plan  for  mustering  great  numbers  of  French  Cana- 
dians and  remote  tribes  of  savages,  and  to  bring  them  against  this  Province,  in 
order  to  effect  their  system  of  tyranny  and  despotism  of  these  Colonies ;  and 
the  inhabitants  of  these  counties  apprehend  that  the  first  attacks  of  said 
Canadians  and  Indians  will  be  made  upon  them." 

The  war  carried  into  Canada  postponed  the  realization  of  these 
fears ;  but  the  operations  with  which  the  British  commander  fol- 
lowed the  expulsion  of  the  American  forces  from  that  Province 
left  no  room  to  doubt  that  the  following  spring  would  be  signalized 
by  the  long-dreaded  irruption.  The  unfortunate  relations  between 
the  department  commander  and  the  militia  within  his  precinct  con- 
tributed, however,  with  other  causes,  to  obstruct  the  measures 
which  ought  to  have  been  taken  in  anticipation  of  it. 

John  Adams  wrote  on  the  29th  of  April  from  Philadelphia, 
doubtless  relying  upon  Schuyler's  reports,  "Every  man  in  the 
Massachusetts  quota  ought  to  have  been  ready  last  December ;  and 
not  one  man  has  yet  arrived  in  the  field,  and  not  three  hundred  at 
Saratoga.  I  have  been  abominably  deceived  about  the  troops. 
If  Ticonderoga  is  not. lost,  it  will  be  because  it  is  not  attacked; 
and,  if  it  should  be,  New  England  will  bear  all  the  shame  and  all 
the  blame  of  it."  Of  the  neglect  thus  charged,  Pittsfiekl  was  not 
guilty ;  nor  probably  was  Berkshire  generally,  notwithstanding 
the  distrust  in  which  Schuyler  was  held  in  the  county.  Lieut. 
James  Hubbard,  with  nineteen  men  from  Pittsfield,  was  kept  at 
Ticonderoga  from  December  to  the  latter  part  of  March  ;  and,  on 
the  25th  of  April,  the  town  sent  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot  with  four- 
teen men,  Richmond  and  Lenox  probably  making  up  the  full 
company. 

An  average  of  about  one-sixth  of  the  enrolled  militia  of  the 
town  were  in  the  military  service  of  the  country  from  the  1st  of  De- 
cember to  the  1st  of  May  after  which  the  proportion  began  to 
increase,  until,  in  July,  it  actually  exceeded  the  whole  number  on 
the  rolls,  which  was  only  one  hundred  and  forty,  while  at  one  time 
one  hundred  and  forty-five  were  returned  as  in  service,  including 
the  clergyman,  and  others  exempt  by  law. 

None  of  the  Pittsfield  militia  appear  to  have  remained  at  Ticon- 
deroga after  the  22d  of  May ;  but  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  was  there,  as 
chaplain  to  a  Continental  regiment,  from  the  13th  of  June  until 
the  evacuation ;  and  has  left  a  diary  of  what  transpired  in  connec- 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  281 

tion  with  that  event,  which  throws  light  upon  the  feeling  mani- 
fested in  Berkshire  regarding  it. 1 

The  invasion  which  that  summer  threatened  the  portions  of 
New  York  and  Massachusetts  which  were  protected  by  Ticonde- 
roga  was  such  as  might  well  have  kept  alive  the  most  anxious 
solicitude  for  the  safety  of  that  fortress,  and  the  most  lively  appre- 
hension whenever  it  was  endangered.  The  king  and  his  cabinet, 
determined  no  longer  to  be  balked  in  their  purposes  by  the  old- 
fashioned  chivalry  of  such  soldiers  as  Carleton  and  Howe,  had  sent 
over,  in  the  person  of  Burgoyne,  an  officer,  who,  if  he  had  any  nat- 
ural repugnance  to  bringing  the  horrors  of  savage  warfare  upon  the 
homes  of  the  rebellious  colonists,  was  willing  to  yield  all  weak 
scruples  to  the  instructions  of  the  royal  closet. 

Arriving  in  Canada,  and  entering  upon  his  schemes  of  invasion, 
his  deliberate  purpose  was  to  inspire  the  people  through  whose 
country  he  intended  to  march  with  the  terror  of  his  red  allies  as 
well  as  of  his  military  police. 

On  the  evening  of  July  1,  Burgoyne's  army  debarked  before 
Ticonderoga,  mustering,  rank  and  file,  3,724  British  soldiers,  3,016 
Germans,  and  250  Provincials,  besides  which  there  were  473 
picked  cannoneers,  with  the  finest  park  of  artillery  which  had  then 
ever  accompanied  any  army.  In  addition  to  these  were  the  sav- 
ages, on  which  the  king  so  strongly  relied. 

The  character  of  the  warfare  carried  on  by  these  auxiliaries 
may  be  learned  from  the  following  paragraphs  in  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's 
diary  of  June  26:  — 

"  This  day,  as  John  Whiting  and  John  Batty  were  returning  from  Lake- 
George  Landing,  they  were  fired  upon  by  a  number  of  Indians ;  the  former 
of  whom  was  shot  through  the  head,  and  then  stabbed  in  his  throat,  breast, 
and  belly,  and,  in  addition  to  all,  he  was  scalped.  He  was  a  likely  lad  of 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  belonged  to  Lanesborough. 

"  The  other,  John  Batty,  had  two'  balls  pass  through  his  thigh,  one  through 
the  small  of  his  back,  and  one  obliquely  through  his  breast,  and  his  scalp 
taken  off  during  all  which  he  was  quite  sensible,  and  was  obliged  to  feign 
himself  dead  during  the  stripping  him  of  his  armor,  and  taking  off  his  scalp, 
which  caused  great  pain.  After  the  Indians  retired,  he  got  up,  and  ran  and 
called  for  help,  and  was  soon  carried  in.  He  was  living  the  day  before  the 
retreat,  and,  it  was  said,  was  left  behind." 

1  Published  in  The  Hartford  Courant,  Sept.  1, 1777. 


282  HISTOBY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  whole  civilized  portion  of  Burgoyne's  army  was  perfect  in 
soldiership  and  appointments,  and  was  commanded  by  able  and 
ambitious  officers. 

The  garrison  of  Ticonderoga,  under  Gen.  St.  Clair,  consisted  of 
barely  3,300  men,  one-third  of  them  not  efficient,  and  only  one 
man  in  every  ten  of  the  rest  furnished  with  a  bayonet.  Notwith- 
standing this  great  disparity,  the  American  soldiers  were  able  to 
remember,  that,  twenty  years  before,  an  army  of  twice  the  num- 
ber of  that  of  Gen.  Burgoyue,  and  with  a  reputation  nearly  as 
splendid,  had  been  repulsed  from  before  those  very  walls  by  a  gar- 
rison not  comparatively  larger  than  their  own. 

Gens.  Schuyler  and  St.  Clair  expressed  the  utmost  confidence 
of  defending  the  post ;  and  the  former  continued  to  accumulate 
stores  imtil  the  last,  while  the  latter,  by  the  orders  of  his  superior, 
retained  his  men  there  until  the  favorable  moment  for  retreat  was 
passed.  Yet  Schuyler,  at  least,  was  well  aware  of  a  not  im- 
probable contingency,  which,  if  it  should  occur,  would  render  it 
utterly  impossible  to  hold  the  works  for  a  single  day. 

The  original  selection  of  Ticonderoga  as  a  military  post  was 
made  with  reference  to  the  exigencies  of  the  old  forest-warfare, 
and  its  retention  had  been  a  matter  of  tradition,  without  any  skilful 
re-examination  of  its  position.  On  the  retreat  of  the  Canada 
expedition  in  1776,  it  had,  however,  been  observed  that  Mount 
Independence  commanded  the  old  lines ;  and  that  elevation  had 
been  fortified,  in  great  part  by  the  Berkshire  soldiers. 

But  across  the  outlet  of  Lake  George  from  Mount  Independence, 
and  across  a  narrow  portion  of  Lake  Champlain  from  Ticonderoga, 
the  chain  of  hills  which  separates  the  two  lakes  terminates  in  an 
abrupt  eminence,  six  hundred  feet  high,  which  in  1776  bore  the 
name  of  Sugar  Mountain. 

Its  distance  from  Mount  Independence  was  but  fifteen  hundred 
yards;  from  Ticonderoga,  fourteen  hundred:  but  it  had  been  neg- 
lected by  French,  English,  and  American  engineers,  as  too  distant 
to  be  dangerous,  or  too  precipitous  to  be  occupied.  But  Col.  John 
Trumbull,  when  at  Ticonderoga,  on  Gen.  Gates's  staff,  in  1776, 
had  demonstrated  that  it  was  quite  practicable  for  an  enemy 
to  occupy  it  with  a  battery,  and  that,  if  he  should  do  so,  Ticon- 
deroga would  become  utterly  untenable.  He  had  further  shown, 
that  a  small  but  strong  fort,  mounting  twenty-five  heavy  guns, 
would  effectually  command  the  lake  passage,  then  the  only  one 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  283 

by  which  an  invading  army  could  enter  New  York  or  Massachu- 
setts from  the  north.  Col.  Trumbull  furnished  Schuyler  and  Gates 
with  drawings  and  specifications  explanatory  of  these  facts ;  and 
surveys  were  made  for  the  erection  of  works  in  accordance  with 
them  upon  Sugar  Mountain,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  The  hope 
indulged  seems  to  have  been,  that,  as  the  weak  point  in  the  defence 
had  so  long  escaped  observation,  it'  would  continue  to  do  so. 

It  quickly,  however,  attracted  the  notice  of  a  lieutenant  of 
Burgoyne's  engineers';  and,  on  the  night  of  the  fourth  day  of  the 
siege,  a  party  of  infantry  ascended  Sugar  Mountain,  and  were  so 
delighted  with  its  commanding  position  that  they  at  once  hailed 
it  Mount  Defiance, —  a  name  which  it  still  retains. 

When  the  day  broke,  the  Americans  were  startled  to  see  a  crowd 
of  red-coats  busily  engaged  in  levelling  the  summit  for  a  battery 
whose  guns  were  already  half-way  up  the  steep  acclivity.  In  a 
few  hours,  they  would  command  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
works  spread  out  below. 

Gen.  St.  Clair  hastily  summoned  a  council  of  war;  which,  of 
course,  had  no  alternative  but  to  resolve  upon  an  immediate  evac- 
uation, and  it  was  ordered  for  the  same  night. 

What  preparations  could  be  made  during  the  day,  without  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  the  enemy,  were  effected,  and  the  retreat 
was  begun  under  cover  of  the  night.  The  true  object  of  these 
preparations  does  not  seem  to  have  been  at  first  communicated  to 
the  body  of  the  army.  Mr.  Allen  having,  in  obedience  to  orders, 
removed  his  baggage  to  Mount  Independence,  was  returning  with 
the  intention  of  taking  part  in  the  defence  of  Ticonderoga,  when, 
meeting  his  regiment  in  full  retreat,  he  was  astonished  and  in- 
dignant to  learn  the  true  condition  of  affairs.  Ignorant  of  the 
examination  made  the  previous  year  by  Col.  Trumbull,  he,  like 
the  great  majority  of  the  array,  held  to  the  traditional  belief  that 
Ticonderoga  was,  for  all  practical  purposes,  out  of  artillery  range 
from  Sugar  Mountain.  "  All  the  king's  artillery,"  said  he  in  his 
diary,  "-on  the  high  mountain  behind  us  could  never  have  obliged 
us  to  evacuate  the  place ;  for  what  they  could  make  reach  us 
would  have  been  falling  shot,  and  never  risen  after  they  struck 
the  ground.  The  distance  was  judged  to  be  about  three  miles 
from  Independence,  and  two  from  Ticonderoga.  Did  not  our 
people  lie  nearer  the  army  at  Boston  than  that,  without  receiving 
damage  either  from  bombs  or  cannon-shot  ?  Even  had  they  have 


284  HISTOEY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

lifted  up  their  eighteen-pounders  to  the  summit  of  that  craggy 
mountain,  we  might  have  sat  under  our  own  vines  and  fig-trees, 
and  not  been  afraid." 

Had  Mr.  Allen  been  informed  of  Col.  Trumbull's  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  the  matter,  his  opinion  would  have  been  changed ; 
but  the  council  of  war  explained  their  action  to  their  subordinates, 
only  by  the  pleas  of  a  scarcity  of  ammunition,  and  the  danger  of 
re-enforcement  to  the  enemy.  The  true  reason  which  justified 
their  decision  appears  only  to  have  been  thrown  out  casually  and 
without  authority. 

Of  the  general  feeling  in  the  army,  Mr.  Allen  says,  "  This  event 
was  surprising  to  the  whole  garrison,  and  unexpected  by  us  all. 
Neither  officers  nor  soldiers  indulged  the  most  distant  apprehension 
of  such  a. measure.  The  garrison  in  general  seemed  to  be  filled 
with  astonishment,  grief,  and  indignation.  Some  vented  their 
grief  in  tears  and  lamentation ;  others,  by  execrations  and  bitter 
reproaches  of  this  sad  catastrophe." 

Mr.  Allen  has  left  an  abstract  of  an  address  made  to  the  regi- 
ment to  which  he  was  chaplain,  a  few  hours  before  the  determina- 
tion to  abandon  the  fortress  was  made  public ;  and  from  it  we  may 
learn  how  astonished  he  must  have  been  by  such  a  proceeding.  The 
enemy's  fleet  in  full  sight,  he  said  in  substance  as  follows :  — 

"VALIANT  SOLDIERS,  —  Yonder  are  the  enemies  of  your  country,  who 
have  come  to  lay  waste  and  destroy,  and  spread  havoc  and  devastation 
through  this  pleasant  land.  They  are  mercenaries,  hired  to  do  the  work  of 
death,  and  have  no  motives  to  animate  them  in  their  undertaking.  You 
have  every  consideration  to  induce  you  to  play  the  men,  and  act  the  part  of 
valiant  soldiers.  Your  country  looks  up  to  you  for  its  defence ;  you  are  con- 
tending for  your  wives,  whether  you  or  they  shall  enjoy  them;  you  are 
contending  for  your  children,  whether  they  shall  be  yours  or  theirs ;  for  your 
houses  and  lands,  for  your  flocks  and  herds,  for  your  freedom,  for  future 
generations,  for  every  thing  that  is  great  and  noble,  and,  on  account  of 
which  only,  life  is  of  any  worth.  You  must,  you  will,  abide  the  day  of  trial. 
You  cannot  give  back  whilst  animated  by  these  considerations. 

"  Suffer  me,  therefore,  on  this  occasion,  to  recommend  to  you,  without  delay 
to  break  off  your  sins  by  righteousness,  and  your  iniquities  by  turning  to  the 
Lord.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  ungodly  sinners ;  for  why  will  ye  die  ?  Repent, 
lest  the  Lord  come  and  smite  with  a  curse.  Our  camp  is  filled  with  blas- 
phemy, and  resounds  with  the  language  of  the  infernal  regions.  Oh  that 
officers  and  soldiers  might  fear  to  take  the  holy  and  tremendous  name  of 
God  in  vain  !  Oh  that  you  would  now  return  to  the  Lord,  lest  destruction 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  285 

come  upon  you,  lest  vengeance  overtake  you  !     Oh  that  you  were  wise,  that 
you  understood  this,  that  you  would  consider  your  latter  end  ! 

"  I  must  recommend  to  you  the  strictest  attention  to  your  duty,  and  the 
most  punctual  obedience  to  your  officers.  Discipline,  order,  and  regularity 
are  the  strength  of  an  army. 

"  Valiant  soldiers,  should  our  enemies  attack  us,  I  exhort  and  conjure  you 
to  play  the  men.  Let  no  dangers  appear  too  great,  let  no  suffering  appear 
too  severe,  for  you  to  encounter  for  your  bleeding  country.  Of  God's  grace 
assisting  me,  I  am  determined  to  fight  and  die  by  your  side,  rather  than  flee 
before  our  enemies,  or  resign  myself  up  to  them.  Prefer  death  to  captivity ; 
ever  remember  your  unhappy  brethren  made  prisoners  at  Fort  Washington, 
whose  blood  now  cries  to  Heaven  for  vengeance,  and  shakes  the  pillars  of 
the  world,  saying,  '  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  avenge 
our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  ?  '  Rather  than  quit  this  ground 
with  infamy  and  disgrace,  I  should  prefer  leaving  this  body  of  mine  a  corpse 
on  this  spot. 

"  I  must  finally  recommend  to  you,  and  urge  it  upon  you  again  and  again, 
in  time  of  action  to  keep  silence  ;  let  all  be  hush  and  calm,  serene  and  tran- 
quil, that  the  word  of  command  may  be  distinctly  heard  and  resolutely 
obeyed.  And  may  the  God  of  Heaven  take  us  all  under  his  protection,  and 
cover  our  heads  in  the  day  of  battle,  and  grant  unto  us  his  salvation !  " 1 

The  retreat  was  planned  to  be  made  in  two  divisions.  A  flo- 
tilla, commanded  by  Col.  Long,  was  to  pass  up  the  narrow  lake  to 
Skenesborough,  conveying  the  wounded,  the  sick,  and  the  non-com- 
batants, together  with  such  artillery  and  stores  as  could  be  saved. 
The  main  body  of  the  army,  under  Gen.  St.  Clair,  was  to  cross  to 
Mount  Independence,  and  thence  proceed  south  by  land.  A  prema- 
ture discovery  of  the  evacuation  transformed  the  retreat  into  some- 
thing very  like  a  flight.  Both  divisions  were  compelled  to  set  off 
in  haste.  Col.  Long  was  overtaken  at  Skenesborough,  lost  his  artil- 
lery and  stores,  and  pushed  on  southward ;  but,  turning  upon  his 
pursuers,  he  made  a  gallant  and  almost  successful  stand  near  Fort 
Aim.  Finally  compelled  to  retreat,  he  reached  Fort  Edward, 
where  Schuyler  had  fixed  his  headquarters. 

St.  Cl air's  army,  after  severe  fighting  and  heavy  losses  by  its 

1  In  a  note  to  Mr.  Allen's  abstract  of  this  address,  written  shortly  after  his  re- 
turn home,  he  says,  "  In  about  five  hours  afterwards,  the  garrison  was  evacuated, 
and  our  vast  army  fleeing  before  their  enemies  with  the  utmost  precipitation  and 
irregularity,  leaving  behind,  for  the  use  of  the  enemy,  an  immense  quantity  of 
baggage,  artillery,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  every  warlike  necessary.  How  are 
the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished  !  " 


286  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

rearguard  at  Hubbardston,  plunged  into  the  woods,  and,  by  a 
circuitous  route,  reached  a  point  about  fifty  miles  east  of  Fort 
Edward  on  the  10th.  From  the  7th,  when  they  had  disappeared 
in  the  woods,  no  tidings  had  been  received  of  them.  Reaching 
Fort  Edward,  although  as  way-worn,  haggard,  and  reduced  a 
corps  as  is  often  seen,  they  were  received  with  joy  by  Gen.  Schuy- 
ler,  who  had  fully  shared  the  apprehension,  which  everywhere  pre- 
vailed, that  they  had  all  been  made  prisoners. 

This  suspense  had  added  to  the  consternation  that  had  fallen 
upon  the  whole  region  which  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga  laid  open  to 
the  inroads  of  the  enemy,  —  a  consternation  which  Burgoyne  sedu- 
lously sought  to  enhance  through  his  proclamations  and  the  Tory 
emissaries,  open  or  concealed,  who  ingeniously  magnified  the  num- 
bers of  his  army,  and  enlarged  upon  the  fei*ocity  of  the  savages,  who 
committed  their  atrocities  under  the  shelter  of  his  commission. 

In  the  minds  of  the  neighboring  people,  the  mysterious  evacu- 
tion  of  the  traditional  stronghold  to  which  they  and  their  fathers 
had  looked  for  protection  could  not  but  create,  in  addition  to  the 
other  terrors  of  invasion,  doubts  of  the  ability  or  integrity  of  the 
officers  upon  whom  its  defence  devolved.  St.  Clair  and  his  brig- 
adiers were  bitterly  charged  with  cowardice;  and  the  graver 
allegations  against  Gen.  Schuyler,  which  bis  enemies  had  hardly 
suffered  to  slumber,  were  revived  in  all  their  unjust  malignancy. 

If,  however,  the  people  of  Pittsfield  gave  any  thought  to  the 
suspicions  against  the  department  commander,  they  did  not  suffer 
them  to  impede,  in  the  least,  their  co-operation  in  repairing  the 
breach  made  in  their  defences.  A  letter  proffering  aid  was,  on 
the  9th,  sent  to  Gen.  Schuyler,  who,  the  next  day,  gratefully  ac- 
knowledged it,  and  specified  the  modes  in  which  the  town  could 
best  render  him  assistance.  This  communication  was  forwarded 
to  the  General  Court,  with  an  explanatory  note  from  the  select- 
men. Both  letters  are  characteristic;  and  the  latter  is  illustrative 
of  the  spirit  and  feeling  of  the  town  at  that  exciting  crisis.  We 
therefore  reproduce  them  here. 

[From  the  Selectmen  and  Committee  of  Pittsfield  to  the  General  Court.'} 
To  THE  HONORABLE  THE  COUNCIL  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  IN  GENERAL 

COUET  ASSEMBLED. 

As  the  unparalleled,  infamous,  ignominious,  and  cowardly  evacuating  of 
Ticonderoga  and  Mount  Independence,  and  hasty  retreat  therefrom,  must 
give  astonishment  to  all  humanity,  so  must  it  also  give  the  utmost  perplexity 
and  remorse  to  the  United  Independent  States  of  America,  and  greatly 


HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  287 

reproach  their  general  officers.  To  think  that  out  of  four  there  was  not  one 
of  so  much  firmness  and  resolution  as  to  confine  the  others  there,  when  all 
the  field-officers  and  others,  with  the  men,  would  have  stood  by  him  for  the 
support  and  maintenance  of  the  key  of  North  America ;  supplied  with  am- 
munitions and  provisions  sufficient  for  thirty  or  forty  days'  siege,  and  within 
reach  of  twenty  thousand  men,  who  might,  in  all  probability,  have  been  with 
them  in  twenty  days  I  But  so  it  is,  truly  a  lamentation,  and  will  be  for  a 
lamentation  ;  and  they  that  have  the  watch  must  look  out ;  and  we  shall  still 
hope  and  trust  that  the  All-wise  Governor  of  the  world  will  give  that  wisdom 
to  the  Congress  and  to  the  several  assemblies  of  the  States  to  lead  us  into 
such  measures  as  that  we  may  surmount  all  the  difficulties  that  attend  us, 
and,  in  some  measure,  rectify  the  mistakes  which  have  been  made.  It  gives 
us  no  small  pleasure  to  see  no  countenance  changed,  unless  it  be  with  a  spirit 
of  resentment  and  indignation.  And  as  we  have  just  received  a  letter  from 
Gen.  Schuyler,  in  which  he  mentions  the  want  of  a  very  necessary  article, 
we  thought  it  our  duty  to  enclose  it,  fearing  that,  in  his  hurry  and  broken 
situation,  he  may  have  omitted  sending  to  you. 

You  will  pardon  us,  if  we  unburden  ourselves  by  letting  you  know  what 
is  heavy  on  our  minds,  as  the  keeping  of  officers  of  whom  even  the  common 
soldiery  have  a  jealousy,  especially  such  as  have  showed  the  greatest  cow- 
ardice. They  never  will  follow  with  that  cordiality,  fearing  that  they  will 
leave  them  to  themselves,  or,  to  regain  their  credit,  charge  them  on  with 
impetuosity  to  needless  ruin  and  destruction.  And  we  are  apprehensive, 
that  if  those  officers  who  made  the  late  inglorious  flight  are  not  brought  to 
trial,  and  then,  not  justifying  themselves,  are  not  brought  to  condign  punish- 
ment, officers  will  run  at  a  very  low  ebb  ;  and  it  will  not  be  worth  while  to 
attempt  any  great  things  for  the  future. 

And,  if  it  is  true  that  we  have  lost  three  hundred  cannon  at  Ticonderoga, 
it  cannot  be  supposed  that  there  are  many  near  or  at  headquarters.  Suffer 
us  to  suggest  that  some  of  the  brigades  marching  to  Fort  Edward  take  along 
with  them  some  of  the  field-pieces  paraded  at  Springfield. 

We  shall  be  glad  if  our  ebullition  of  resentment  against  the  late  northern 
conduct  has  not  run  us  into  indecency  or  impertinence.  But  we  trust  that 
you  will  forgive  us,  as  it  comes  from  hearty  well-wishers  to  the  common 
cause  of  America. 

We  are  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servants, 

WM.  WILLIAMS,  in  behalf  of  the  Selectmen. 
JOSIAH  WRIGHT,  in  behalf  of  the  Committee. 
PITTSFIELD,  July,  13, 1777. 

[Gen.  Schuyler  to  Col.  Williams  and  Josiah  Wright,  Esq.] 

HEADQUARTERS,  FORT  EDWARD,  July  10, 1777. 

GENTLEMEN,  — Your  favor  of  yesterday's  date  I  have  this  moment  received. 
The  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  and  Mount  Independence  is,  unhappily,  too 
true.  I  am  informed  that  it  was  done  in  consequence  of  a  resolution  of  the 


28S  HISTORY    OF  PITTSFIELD. 

general  officers  in  council.  I  have  not  yet  been  so  happy  as  to  see  any  of 
them,  and  cannot  therefore  inform  you  on  what  principle  the  resolution  was 
founded.  I  am  sorry  to  learn  from  Col.  Williams  of  White  Creek,  and  other 
gentlemen,  that  it  is  imputed  to  me  as  having  given  an  order  for  that  purpose. 
If  such  order  was  ever  given,  I  should  not  dare  to  deny  it,  as  the  means  of 
detection  must  be  very  easy,  even  if  principle  were  no  restraint  to  asserting 
a  falsehood.  Gen.  Learned  has  seen  the  originals  of  all  my  letters  to  Gen. 
St.  Clair ;  for  they  were  returned  unsealed  by  Col.  Long,  having  never 
reached  Ticonderoga.  They  hold  up  ideas  widely,  nay  directly,  repugnant 
to  the  orders  I  am  so  unjustly  charged  with  giving.  You  will  please, 
therefore,  give  my  own  words  in  contradiction  to  such  report,  should  it  have 
taken  place  with  you.  The  enemy  have  appeared  at  Fort  Ann,  but  at 
present  none  of  them  are  there,  except  a  few  lurking  Indians,  or  white  men 
disguised  like  Indians,  of  which  we  are  assured  the  enemy  have  many,  in 
order  to  intimidate.  I  am  in  hopes,  that  when  Gen.  St.  Clair  and  Gen. 
Nixon,  with  the  troops  respectively  with  them,  arrive,  that  I  shall  be  able  to 
stop  their  progress  in  the  vicinity  of  this  place,  provided  we  are  properly 
supported  by  the  militia.  I  am  accordingly  thankful  for  your  offers  of  as- 
sistance, and  will  accept  of  any  you  can  give.  Carriages  are  greatly  needed ; 
and  any  number  you  can  expedite  to  me,  however  small,  will  be  of  service. 
I  need  not  inform  you  that  the  more  men  there  are  sent  to  me,  the  better. 
If,  perchance,  there  should  be  any  lead  attainable  by  you,  I  wish  to  have  it 
sent  to  me  with  all  despatch,  as  we  are  greatly  straitened  in  that  neces- 
sary article. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  much  respect, 

Your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

PH.    SCHUYLER. 
Col.  WM.  WILLIAMS,  JOSIAH  WEIGHT,  Esq.1 

The  assistance  proffered  by  Pittsfield  to  Gen.  Schuyler,  in  its 
most  essential  particular,  went  before  its  offer.  When  news  first 
came  that  Burgoyne  was  advancing  up  the  lake  from  Canada, 
Capt.  John  Strong  and  Lieut.  Caleb  Goodrich  led  fifty-four  men, 
on  the  30th  of  June,  to  Fort  Ann;  and,  if  tradition  is  correct,  they 
took  part  in  Col.  Long's  sanguinary  and  almost  successful  fight. 
And  it  must  have  been  immediately  upon  learning  the  disaster  at 
Ticonderoga,  that,  on  the  8th  July,  Capt.  William  Francis  and 
Lieut.  Stephen  Crowfoot  marched  with  forty  men  to  re-enforce 
the  army  at  Fort  Edward.  Ten  days  after,  Lieut.  James  Hubbard 
led  #  detachment  often  men  to  Manchester.  On  the  18th  of  June, 
these  corps  were  all  in  the  field,  making,  with  the  thirty-two  men 

1  Mass.  Ar. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  289 

and  several  officers  in  the  Continental  service,  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the  country. 

Gen.  Schnyler,  on  the  26th  of  July,  dismissed  one-half  of  the 
militia  of  New  England,  and  of  Albany  County  in  New  York ; 
and  the  greater  portion  of  the  rest  a  month  later.  The  company  of 
Capt.  Strong  returned  home  under  the  first  order;  the  two  others, 
on  the  26th  of  August,  under  the  second.  Schuyler's  pretence  for 
this  course,  while  there  was  the  severest  need  of  men,  was,  that  the 
militia  of  Berkshire  and  Albany  were  so  impatient  to  return  to  their 
fields,  that  he  released  a  part  lest  he  might  lose  the  whole ;  and 
then,  having  dismissed  the  one-half,  he  sent  home  the  other.  The 
explanation  he  gave  in  private  was,  that  he  considered  every  one 
of  the  Southern  soldiers,  whom  he  was  importuning  Washington  to 
send  him  from  his  own  too  meagre  force,  to  be  worth  two  of  the 
men  of  New  England.1  Possibly  the  fundamental  reason  lay  in 
the  distrust  in  which  he  knew  himself  to  be  held  by  the  militia  of 
Berkshire  and  Albany  Counties,  and  in  hardly  a  less  degree  by 
those  of  all  the  Eastern  States.  The  contemned  soldiery  shortly 
had  a  noble  revenge,  in  proving  upon  the  fields  of  Bennington  and 
Saratoga,  and  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain,  that,  under 
officers  in  whose  ability  they  could  trust,  they  had  few  superiors  in 
arms.  Had  Schuyler  possessed,  like  Stark  and  Brown,  the  mag- 
nanimity to  overlook  their  faults,  that  sympathy  with  their  rude 
virtues  which  taught  those  leaders  how  to  win  the  confidence  of 
their  men,  and  the  genius  which  enabled  them  to  render  even  their 
failings  useful  to  their  country,  he  might,  with  the  soldiery  whom 
he  so  grossly  undei'rated,  have  forestalled  the  successes  which  soon 
shed  lustre  on  the  northern  army,  and  have  escaped  the  bitterness 
of  removal  from  a  command  in  which  he  believed  victory  almost 
within  his  grasp. 

With  the  triumphs  attending  his  pursuit  of  the  flying  garrison 
of  Ticonderoga,  the  fortunes  of  the  British  commander  culmi- 
nated ;  and  even  these  were  achieved  at  an  expense  in  men  which  he 
could  ill  afford,  and  which  could  by  no  means  be  made  good  from 
the  loyalists  who  flocked  to  him  at  Skenesborough.  Here  his 
blunders  became  more  palpable,  and  his  perplexities  began  to 
accumulate.  Following  the  most  impracticable  routes,  it  was  not 
until  the  30th  of  July  that  he  found  himself  at  Fort  Edward  with 

1  Brancroft,  Hist.  U.  S.,  vol.  ix.  p.  373. 
19 


290  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

a  wearied  array,  and  surrounded  by  ever-increasing  difficulties. 
Before  leaving  Canada,  he  had  directed  a  co-operating  column  to 
proceed  by  the  way  of  Oswego  and  the  Mohawk.  This  body,  he 
now  learned,  was  already  before  Fort  Stanwix.  The  defeat  which 
it  there  met"  was  not  within  his  purview  of  possibilities;  and 
it  behooved  him  to  make  all  haste  down  the  Hudson,  in  order  to 
form  the  proposed  junction  before  the  occupation  of  Albany,  which 
was  confidently  assigned  for  the  22d  or  23d  of  August.  But  his 
transportation  was  utterly  inadequate  to  such  a  movement.  Carle- 
ton,  still  governing  in  Canada,  confined  his  assistance  strictly  to 
the  letter  of  his  instructions,  and  acted,  even  within  that  limit, 
with  the  reverse  of  zeal.  The  wagons  contracted  for  in  that  Prov- 
ince, unfaithfully  made,  were  so  rickety  as  to  be  of  little  service ; 
the  horses,  insufficient  in  number,  arrived  in  wretched  condition. 
The  subsistence  which  could  be  ordinarily  obtained  from  all 
sources  barely  sufficed  for  the  daily  consumption  :  it  was  rare  good 
fortune  when  a  magazine  of  four  days'  supply  was  accumulated. 

In  this  strait,  Burgoyne  was  prepared  to  welcome  any  suggestion 
which  promised  relief.  Our  old  friend  Skene  of  Skenesborough 
was  in  his  camp  ;  and  Burgoyne,  trusting  to  the  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  country  which  he  was  supposed  to  possess,  had 
latterly  relied  much  upon  his  counsels,  raised  him  to  the  rank  of 
colonel,  and  made  him  titular  governor  of  the  regions  thereabout. 

This  man  represented,  to  say  the  least  with  great  exaggeration, 
that  the  Americans  had  established  large  depots  of  supplies, 
and  especially  of  horses  at  Bennington  in  Vermont,  which  he 
asserted  might  easily  be  captured  by  surprise. 

The  veteran  generals,  Phillips  and  Reidesel,  protested  warmly 
against  the  scheme,  as  attended  with  too  great  risks.  The  affairs 
in  which  they  had  recently  engaged  the  retreating  Americans  had 
probably  persuaded  them,  that,  whatever  might  be  the  condition 
of  the  opposing  army  as  a  whole,  there  were  in  it  corps  sufficiently 
intact,  and  commanded  by  officers  of  sufficient  dash  and  ability,  to 
render  them  extremely  dangerous  to  a  detached  column. 

Burgoyne's  necessities  were,  however,  imperious;  and  he  not 
only  eagerly  embraced  the  proposed  plan,  but  enlarged  its  scope. 
The  final  written  instructions  to  Lieut.-Col.  Baum,  the  German 
officer  who  was  assigned  to  the  command,  defined  the  purposes  of 
the  expedition  to  be,  —  to  scour  the  country,  with  Peters's  corps 
(Tories)  and  the  Indians,  fi-om  Rockingham  to  Otter  Creek ;  to 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  291 

get  cattle  and  horses,  and  mount  Reldesel's  Dragoons ;  to  go  down 
the  river  as  far  as  Brattleborough,  and  return  by  the  great  road, 
which  passed  through  the  extreme  north-west  corner  of  Berkshire 
to  Albany,  there  to  rejoin  the  army  of  Burgoyne ;  to  endeavor  to 
make  the  country  believe  that  it  was  the  advance  guard  of  the 
general's  army,  who  were  to  cross  the  Connecticut,  and  proceed  via 
Springfield  to  Boston  ;  to  make  prisoners  of  all  civil,  as  well  as 
military  officers,  holding  under  Congress  ;  to  tax  the  towns  where 
they  halted  for  whatever  they  needed,  taking  hostages  for  their 
performances  ;  to  bring  all  horses  fit  either  to  mount  the  dragoons 
or  for  battalion  service,  with  all  the  saddles  and  bridles  which 
could  be  found.  The  number  of  horses,  besides  those  for  the 
dragoons,  ought,  it  was  the  British  general's  modest  opinion,  to  be 
thirteen  hundred ;  but,  if  more  were  to  be  obtained,  so  much  the 
better. 

Verbal  orders  were  given  to  send  back  the  spoils  of  Bennington 
at  once  to  Burgoyne's  camp,  which,  in  order  to  be  nearer  to  Baum 
in  case  of  necessity,  had  been  advanced  down  the  river  to  a  point 
opposite  Saratoga,  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Batten  Kill.  It  is 
clear  that  Burgoyne's  march  down  the  Hudson  could  only  be  facil- 
itated by  such  transportation  as  could  be  obtained  at  Bennington ; 
for  the  fruits  of  the  marauding  beyond  that  point  would  only  reach 
him  at  Albany.  It  will  be  perceived  how  large  a  share  of  the 
labors  and  dangers  of  the  expedition  were  submitted  to  for  another 
purpose.  The  raid  beyond  the  first  point  named  was  an  out- 
growth of  that  system  of  terror  which  Burgoyne,  in  council 
with  his  royal  master  and  the  most  infamous  of  his  ministers, 
had  devised  as  the  fittest  expedient  to  restore  the  rebellious  peo- 
ple of  the  Colonies  to  their  allegiance. 

Nothing,  surely,  could  be  a  more  efficient  adjunct  to  such  a 
system,  than  a  raid  of  mercenaries,  ignorant  of  the  language  of 
the  people,  instructed  to  live  upon  the  country,  and  with  unlimited 
power  to  make  prisoners,  supplemented  by  a  "scouring"  of  In- 
dians and  exasperated  Tories.  And  nothing  could  be  more  condu- 
cive to  the  permanence  of  submission  —  supposing  terror  compe- 
tent to  induce  it  —  than  a  military  police,  well  mounted  upon 
horses  stripped  from  the  conquered  territory.  But,  whatever  may 
have  been  the  object  prominent  in  the  mind  of  the  British  com- 
mander when  sending  out  this  ill-starred  expedition,  the  belief 
that  it  could  safely  march  through  the  route  indicated,  much  less 


292  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

carry  out  the  programme  laid  down  for  it,  betrays  that  pitiable 
misconception  of  the  people  with  whom  he  had  to  deal  which 
characterized  his  leadership  from  first  to  last. 

But,  in  fact,  he  looked  upon  that  whole  region  as  virtually  sub- 
dued, and  only  needing  to  be  made  sensible  of  the  fact  by  a  vigor- 
ous application  of  the  rod.  In  the  absence  of  all  active  opposition 
from  the  American  forces,  the  natural  obstacles  he  was  obliged  to 
encounter  did  not  suffice  to  disabuse  him  of  the  fatal  fallacy.  As 
the  British  camp  advanced  from  post  to  post,  until  it  was  estab- 
lished on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  less  than  forty  miles  above 
Albany,  Schuyler,  although  pure  in  purpose  and  eager  to  meet 
every  personal  danger,  yet  dispirited,  irresolute,  fretted  by  unjust 
imputations,  and  doubtless  conscious  of  grave  errors  with  which 
he  was  not  yet  charged,  fell  back  from  Fort  Edward  to  Fort 
Miller,  thence  to  Saratoga,  and  finally  to  Stillwater  and  the  Mo- 
hawk River. 

Washington,  alarmed  at  the  hopeless  tone  of  his  letters  and  his 
perpetual  complaints  of  the  New-England  militia,  robbed  his  own 
already  depleted  army  to  furnish  him  re-enforcement,  which  an 
officer  like  Stark  would  have  rapidly  drawn  and  organized  from 
the  surrounding  country ;  and  sent  to  his  aid  Arnold,  whom  he 
regarded  as  the  ablest  of  the  major-generals,  and  who  certainly 
did  not  lack  in  dash,  as  well  as  Lincoln,  who  had  the  confidence 
of  the  militia,  upon  whom  the  sagacious  commander-in-chief  well 
.knew  all  must  finally,  in  a  great  measure,  depend.1 

But  it  was  left  to  an  independent  commander  to  carry  out, 
although  ignorant  that  it  had  been  made,  the  suggestion  which 
Washington  in  vain  wrote  to  Schuyler,  that,  "  if  the  enemy  con- 
tinued to  act  in  detachments,  one  vigorous  fall  upon  one  of  those 
detachments  might  prove  fatal  to  the  whole  expedition."  After  a 
brilliant  record  from  the  very  inception  of  the  present  war,  as  well 
as  in  that  of  1754,  Col.  John  Stark  of  New  Hampshire  had 
retired  from  the  Continental  service  in  the  March  of  1777,  disgusted 
with  the  omission  of  his  name  from  the  list  of  newly-appointed 
brigadiers,  in  which  those  of  far  inferior  men  figured.  This  cir- 
cumstance, untoward  as  it  then  appeared,  in  good  time  proved  to 
be  of  inestimable  advantage  to  the  country,  which  profited  by  the 
blundering  injustice  of  its  representatives. 

1  Bancroft. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  293 

Upon  the  irruption  of  Burgoync,  New  Hampshire  being  one  of 
the  frontiers  threatened,  the  patriotic  legislature  of  that  State, 
roused  by  the  imminence  of  the  danger,  determined  to  raise  two 
brigades  of  militia  for  its  defence.  Stark  was  tendered  the  com- 
mand of  one  of  these,  and  of  the  whole,  when  in  combined  service, 
by  virtue  of  seniority ;  and  with  this  force  was  directed  to  "  pro- 
ceed to  the  new  State," l  and  "  check  the  advance  of  Burgoyne." 

The  task  was  one  from  which  commanders  of  more  abundant 
resources  were  shrinking;  but  Stark  was  willing  to  undertake  it, 
although  only  upon  the  indispensable  condition  that  his  command 
should  be  an  entirely  independent  one,  responsible  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  New  Hampshire  solely,  and  in  no  way  subject  to  the  Con- 
tinental generals.  Such  was  the  estimation  in  which  his  ability, 
as  well  as  his  patriotism  and  sound  sense,  was  held  by  the  legis- 
lature, that,  unprecedented  and  dangerous  in  principle  as  was  his 
demand,  it  was  complied  with  without  hesitation.  That  demand 
and  that  compliance  fought  and  won  the  battle  of  Bennington. 

Stark  had  hardly  reached  Manchester,  when  Gen.  Lincoln 
arrived  at  the  same  place,  charged  by  Gen.  Schuyler  with  orders 
to  bring  the  militia  in  that  quarter  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson, 
where  he  was  concentrating  his  army  to  oppose  the  progress  of 
Burgoyne ;  or  fall  back  before  him.  Stark,  in  whose  judgment,  as 
in  that  of  Washington,  the  better  policy  seemed  to  be  to  hang 
heavily  on  the  enemy's  flank  and  rear,  flatly  refused  to  comply, 
and,  on  the  9th  of  August,  established  his  headquarters  at 
Bennington. 

Baum  set  out  from  Batten  Kill  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
13th,  the  general  showing  his  interest  in  the  expedition  by  riding 
with  him  across  the  stream.  The  force  consisted  of  four  hundred 
Brunswick  dismounted  dragoons,  a  detachment  of  Hanau  artiller- 
ists with  two  field-pieces,  Capt.  Frazer's  English  marksmen,  all 
the  French  Canadians,  a  considerable  body  of  the  Queen's  Royal 
Rangers  (Peters's  corps),  and  bands  of  savages  to  the  number  of 
perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Those  who  have  examined  the 
huge  long  sword,  the  ponderous  musket,  and  brazen  helmet,  now 
in  the  Massachusetts  Senate  Chamber,  which  were  worn  by  the 
German  troops  in  Baum's  expedition,  will  comprehend  how  utterly 
unfit  such  a  body  were  for  a  rapid  movement.  Surprise  is  an  effect 

„  J  Vermont,  which  had  then  just  assumed  its  independent  rank  and  its  beautiful 
name. 


294  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

which  they  seem  to  have  only  been  capable  of  producing  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  witnessed  their  selection  for  such  a  movement 
as  the  present.  Their  tactics,  also,  were  as  cumbrous  as  their 
armor ;  and  the  British  officers  affirmed,  that,  in  forest-roads  which 
incessant  rains  had  rendered  beds  of  unfathomable  mire,  the  Ger- 
man officers  halted  their  men  ten  times  an  hour  to  dress  their  ranks. 

The  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Batten  Kill  to  Bennington, 
by  the  route  pursued,  was  probably  little  more  than  thirty  miles. 
The  presence  of  the  Indians  at  Cambridge,  twelve  miles  from 
Bennington,  where  they  were  committing  their  usual  outrages,  was 
reported  to  Stark  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  13th;  and  Lieut.-Col. 
Gregg,  with  two  hundred  men,  was  sent  out  to  check  and  chastise 
them.  During  the  following  night,  word  was  received  that  the 
savages  were  merely  the  advanced  scouts  of  a  large  body  of  troops 
pushing  directly  for  Bennington.  Stark  immediately  put  the 
whole  force  at  headquarters  under  arms,  sent  express  to  Gen. 
Lincoln  in  command  of  the  forces  collected  at  Manchester,  and 
dispersed  messengers  in  all  directions  to  summon  the  local  militia 
to  the  rescue. 

The  tradition  has  long  been  current,  that  the  alarm  reached 
Pittsfield  on  the  Sabbath ;  that  the  messenger  coming  to  the  door 
of  the  meeting-house,  where  the  people  were  still  engaged  in  divine 
worship,  announced  the  approach  of  the  British ;  that  thereupon 
the  pastor  descended  from  the  pulpit,  and,  standing  on  the  little 
platform  beneath  it,  called  upon  his  people  to  go  forth  with  him  to 
do  battle  with  the  enemies  of  his  country. 

The  tradition  is  not  one  of  those  current  among  Mr.  Allen's 
descendants ;  and  it  is  disproved  by  the  fact  that  the  battle  was 
fought  on  Saturday.  The  origin  of  the  story  probably  was,  that, 
when  the  alarm  reached  town,  the  citizens,  as  was  their  custom, 
assembled  in  the  meeting-house  to  take  measures  for  an  effectual 
response ;  and  that  there  the  minister,  with  his  heart  full  of  the 
emotions  excited  by  his  late  experience  at  Ticonderoga,  made  an 
address  whose  eloquence  and  power  were  remembered  long  after 
the  attendant  circumstances  became  obscured. 

This  explanation  is  rendered  the  more  plausible  by  that  portion 
of  the  legend  which  affirms  that  Mr.  Allen  spoke  musket-in-hand  ; 
while,  since  the  days  of  Indian  surprises,  the  most  belligerent 
clergymen  had  given  over  the  practice  of  making  an  armory  of 
their  pulpits. 


HISTORY   OF   P1TTSFIELD.  295 

A  large  portion  of  the  able-bodied  men  of  the  town  were  already 
in  the  field;  others  had  just  returned,  and  were  scattered  upon 
their  farms,  deeply  engrossed  in  their  too  long-delayed  agricultural 
labors.  But  the  exigency  was  felt  to  be  of  the  most  pressing  and 
alarming  nature ;  and  the  best  citizens  of  the  town  pressed  forward 
to  meet  it,  irrespective  of  legal  exemption  from  military  service,  or 
any  other  personal  consideration. 

Twenty-two  men  enrolled  themselves  in  all,  under  the  command 
of  Li'eut.  William  Ford,  an  officer  who  saw  much  service  in  those 
days.  With  him  served  the  veteran  Col.  Easton,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen, 
Capts.-  Charles  Goodrich,  James  Noble,  and  William  Francis, 
Lieuts.  Joseph  Allen  (second  in  command),  Josiah  Wright,  and 
Rufus  Allen. 

On  the  16th,  and  of  course  before  news  of  the  battle  was 
received,  a  second  detachment  of  seventeen  men,  under  Lieut. 
James  Hubbard,  set  out  for  Bennington;  and  this,  too,  was  peculi- 
arly constituted,  for  in  its  ranks  were  Capts.  Isaac  Dickinson  and 
John  Strong  and  Lieut.  Oliver  Root.  Major  Israel  Stoddard  and 
Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  also  signalized  their  newly-sworn  alle- 
giance to  the  "Independent  United  States  of  America"  by  volun- 
teering in  Lieut.  Hubbard's  detachment ;  and  we  find  in  its  rolls, 
as  well,  the  name  of  Ezekiel  Root. 

The  first  detachment  hurried  to  the  threatened  point  in  hot 
haste.  Possibly  every  man  got  there  as  best  he  could.  Certainly 
there  was  no  superfluous  weight  of  armor,  and  no  dressing  the  ranks 
on  the  march.  Mr.  Allen  set  out  in  the  old  sulky,  the  wonted 
companion  of  his  pastoral  visits ;  going  to  war  in  his  chariot,  like 
the  heroes  of  classic  and  scriptural  story. 

Of  the  Berkshire  militia  districts,  Col.  Symonds,  of  that  nearest 
the  scene  of  action,  marched  his  full  regiment.  Col.  Brown,  the 
commander  of  the  middle  district,  in  which  Pittsfield  lay,  was 
absent;  and  the  detachment  of  his  corps  was  led,  and  command- 
ed with  great  spirit  and  military  skill,  by  Lieut.-Col.  David 
Rossiter  of  Richmond.  From  southern  Berkshire,  several  towns 
sent  volunteers.  Meanwhile,  as  the  people  of  the  surrounding 
district  were  rallying  to  his  support,  Stark,  on  the  14th,  had 
checked  Ba urn's  forces  at  a  point  in  Hoosac,  N.Y.,  five  miles 
from  Bennington  Church,  and  near  the  Wallamsac,  a  little  wind- 
ing branch  of  the  Hoosac  River.  On  a  small  elevation  near  this 
stream,  Baum  occupied  a  strong  position,  which,  during  the  heavy 


296  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

rain  of  the  15th,  he  was  able  to  fortify  with  two  lines  of  breast- 
works, although  suffering  severely  from  Stark's  skirmishers.  On 
the  14th,  these  sharp-shooters  succeeded  in  killing  or  wounding 
thirty  of  the  enemy,  with  no  loss  to  themselves;  and,  on  the  15th, 
the  woods  where  the  Indians  had  camped  were  so  thoroughly 
scouted,  that  the  savages,  declaring  the  forest  full  of  Yankees,  be- 
gan to  desert  in  large  numbers. 

Among  the  volunteers  of  Southern  Berkshire  was  a  company  of 
Stockbridge  Indians,  who,  although  civilized,  retained,  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  service,  their  national  costume,  and  were  among 
the  most  valued  of  Stark's  scouts.  An  incident  of  the  battle  was 
related  by  Linus  Parker,  which  illustrates  the  double  danger  to 
which  these  faithful  allies  of  the  colonists  were  subjected.  On 
the  night  previous  to  the  fight,  which  was  dark  and  dreary,  Parker 
was  on  picket,  and  was  induced  to  take  double  duty,  and  remain 
unrelieved  at  his  post  until  morning.  When  the  light  broke,  he 
found  himself  near  a  heavy  belt  of  pines  and  hemlocks,  which  at 
once  struck  him  as  an  admirable  covert  for  lurking  savages.  He 
accordingly  betook  himself  to  watch  behind  a  large  tree;  and,  sure 
enough,  a  huge  Indian  with  war-paint,  musket,  tomahawk,  and 
scalper,  soon  showed  himself,  and,  after  taking  a  wary  observation, 
walked  straight  towards  Parker's  hiding-place.  The  latter  drew 
his  musket  to  his  shoulder;  but,  bethinking  liimself  that  a  party  of 
Mohegans  were  out  on  scout,  determined  to  challenge,  and  shouted, 
"  Who  comes  there  ?  "  —  "A  friend,"  was  the  reply.  "  A  friend 
to  whom  ?  "  After  a  painful  hesitation,  "  To  the  Congress ! " — 
"Advance,  and  give  the  countersign !  "  —  "I  can't,"  exclaimed  the 
stranger,  advancing  and  trembling  with  emotion:  "O  Parker! 
thank  God,  it  is  you !  If  it  had  been  anybody  else,  they'd  never 
stopped  to  talk  to  poor  Indian.  I'd  been  a  dead  man,  sure." 

The  stranger  proved  to  be  Capt.  Solomon,  a  Stockbridge  chief, 
who  had  been  out  three  days  with  a  scouting-party,  who  had 
exhausted  their  provisions.  " Now,  Solomon,"  said  Parker,  "give 
me  your  gun,  tomahawk,  and  scalper,  and  sit  down  yonder.  Play 
my  prisoner,  and  we'll  get  a  drink."  The  guard  soon  came  along ; 
and,  to  the  inquiry  of  the  sergeant,  "Who  have  you  there?" 
Parker's  reply  was,  "You  can  see,  can't  you?  ask  him."  But 
Solomon,  having  been  duly  instructed,  could  talk  nothing  but 
Indian ;  and  was  taken,  with  his  "  captor,  "  to  the  colonel,  who  at 
once  recognized  the  scout.  The  drams  were  produced;  and 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  297 

Solomon  was  soon  on  his  way  back  with  supplies  for  his  famishing 
tribesmen. 

Stark  continually  gained  strength  by  the  arrival  of  the  militia, 
by  inuring  his  raw  troops  to  danger,  and  by  organizing  the  frag- 
mentary squads  in  which  some  of  the  most  ardent  of  his  recruits 
had  come. 

The  Berkshire  militia  arrived  during  the  night,  thoroughly 
drenched,  of  course,  with  the  rain,  and  clogged  with  the  mire 
through  which  they  had  trudged  thirty  miles,  but  having  kept 
their  powder  dry,  and  full  of  heart  for  immediate  action.  The 
frequent  tedious  marches,  which,  in  the  midst  of  harvest-time, 
they  hud  recently  made,  only  to  be  sent  home  again  without  the 
opportunity  to  face  the  enemy,  had  left  the  militiamen  in  no  very 
good  humor ;  and  the  alarm  of  Bennington  had  been  regarded 
by  many  as  the  old  cry  of  "  Wolf."  Only  the  splendid  reputation 
of  Stark  as  a  fighting  commander  obtained  the  effectual  rally 
which  was  made  to  his  standard.  And  even  his  name  could  not 
altogether  dispel  the  distrust  which  had  become  chronic  in  the 
militia.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  following  scene,  which  is  re- 
lated by  Edward  Everett  in  his  Life  of  Stark,  and  is  probably  as 
truthfully  told  as  such  traditions  ever  are :  — 

"  Among  the  re-enforcements  from  Berkshire  county  came  a  clergyman 
[Rev.  Mr.  Allen]  with  a  portion  of  his  flock,  resolved  to  make  bare  the  arm 
of  flesh  against  the  enemies  of  his  country.  Before  daylight  on  the  morning 
of  the  16th,  he  addressed  the  commander  as  follows:  'We,  the  people  of 
Berkshire,  have  been  frequently  called  upon  to  fight,  but  have  never  been 
led  against  the  enemy.  We  have  now  resolved,  if  you  will  not  let  us  fight, 
never  to  turn  out  again.'  Gen.  Stark  asked  him  '  if  he  wished  to  march 
then,  when  it  was  dark  and  rainy.'  — '  No,"  was  the  answer,  '  not  just  this 
minute."  —  "  Then,"  continued  Stark,  "  if  the  Lord  should  once  more  give  us 
sunshine,  and  I  do  not  give  you  fighting  enough,  I  will  never  ask  you  to 
come  again.' " 

The  morning  of  the  16th  of  August  dawned  bright  and  clear; 
and  Stark  prepared  to  make  good  his  promise  of  action.  A  close 
reconnoisance,  together  with  the  report  of  scouts,  showed  that  the 
enemy  were  carefully,  if  not  at  all  points  skilfully,  posted.  The 
artillery,  protected  by  Baum's  dragoons  and  Frazer's  sharp- 
shooters, occupied  the  hill  which  rose  from  the  Wallamsac,  just 
within  the  borders  of  New  York.  The  Loyal  Rangers  and  French 
Canadians  were  stationed  behind  the  first  line  of  breastworks, 


298  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

in  front  of  the  hill,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the  river  with  the 
Americans.  The  little  stream  was,  however,  iirdable  at  all  points, 
and  exercised  but  small  influence  upon  the  j^rtunes  of  the  day 
which  made  it  famous.  The  hill  was  quite  abrupt  upon  its  south- 
eastern face,  but  fell  off  more  gently  to  the  north  and  west ;  a  fact 
of  which  Stark  promptly  availed  himself,  sending  Col.  Nichols 
with  two  hundred  men,  and  Col.  Herrick  with  three  hundred,  to 
simultaneously  assail  the  right  and  left  rear  of  the  dragoons  and 
sharp-shooters.  The  manoeuvre  was  successfully  executed,  not- 
withstanding the  outlying  of  the  Indian  scouts,  who,  finding 
themselves  between  the  two  detachments,  and  terrified  by  the 
experience  of  the  two  past  days,  broke  through  the  lines  and  fled, 
although  not  without  leaving  a  considerable  number  of  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  field.  Bancroft  affirms  that  Baum  mistook  the 
militia,  stealing  behind  him  in  their  shirt-sleeves  and  with  fowling- 
pieces,  for  loyalists  of  the  country  seeking  the  protection  of  his 
lines. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  Nichols  and  Herrick  were  marching  to  the 
real  point  of  attack,  small  detachments  made  diversions  in  other 
quarters. 

The  Berkshire  militia  were  with  the  reserve  of  some  three 
hundred,  who,  under  Stark  in  person,  were  slowly  approaching 
the  Tory  breastworks  by  inarches  and  countermarches,  and  getting 
familiar  with  the  noisy  terrors  of  the  Hanau  artillery ;  while  the 
commander  impatiently  awaited  the  rattle  of  Nichols's  musketry, 
which  was  to  be  the  signal  for  his  advance. 

In  the  morning,  the  Berkshire  men  would  not  leave  their  en- 
campment until  Mr.  Allen  had  prayed  to  the  God  of  armies  that 
he  would  " teach  their  hands  to  war,  and  their"  fingers  to  fight." 
The  prayer  was  offered  with  that  fervent  earnestness  for  which 
its  author  was  remarkable ;  and  it  inspirited  the  men  like  the 
harangue  of  a  trusted  commander.  There  were  many  who  at- 
tributed the  glorious  success  of  the  following  day  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  Berkshire  parson's  morning  prayer.  And  who  that,  even 
in  these  days  of  less  faith,  trusts  in  the  effectual  fervent  prayer 
of  the  righteous  man,  shall  rebuke  them  for  superstition  in  so 
believing  ? 

As  the  regiment  to  which  he  was  attached  approached  the 
Tory  outworks  in  its  countermarching,  Mr.  Allen,  who  knew  that 
some  of  his  old  neighbors  must  be  there,  was  moved  by  a  sense 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  299 

of  duty  which  he  could  not  resist,  although  conscious  of  the 
extreme  danger,  to  go  still  nearer,  and,  standing  in  full  view  upon 
a  fallen  tree,  to  conjure  them  to  come  out  from  the  enemies  of 
their  country,  and  save  the  effusion  of  blood,  while  he  warned 
them  of  the  consequences  of  persisting  in  their  hostility. 

The  answer  was  what  might  have  been  expected.  "  There's 
Parson  Allen :  let's  pop  him !  "  exclaimed  some  one  who  perhaps 
still  smarted  from  the  lash  of  the  minister's  plain  preaching ;  and, 
although  a  few  were  of  a  more  merciful  mood,  a  shower  of  bullets 
whistled  around  him,  riddling  the  tree  on  which  he  stood,  but 
sparing  his  person  —  a  piece  of  good  luck  which  he  owed  more  to 
the  nervous  markmanship  of  the  musketeers  than  to  their  merciful 
compunctions.  The  undaunted  parson,  having  satisfied  his  con- 
science, and  no  doubt  feeling  that  the  blood  of  the  traitors  would 
now  be  upon  their  own  heads,  turned  coolly  to  his  brother, 
Lieut.  Joseph  Allen,  who  had  followed  him  under  cover  of  the 
tree,  and  said,  "Now  give  me  a  musket :  you  load,  and  I'll  fire !" 
And  fire  he  did,  —  the  first  gun  in  that  glorious  fray,  —  it  must  be 
confessed  a  little  in  advance  of  orders. 

In  a  few  moments,  however,  Stark  heard  the  welcome  sound  of 
Nichols's  attacking  musketry ,  the  word  was  given,  and  his  men 
rushed  eagerly  to  the  attack,  pouring  in,  as  they  advanced,  a  con- 
tinuous fire,  which  soon  rendered  the  first  line  of  entrenchments 
too  hot  for  its  defenders.  Panic-stricken,  the  unhappy  Tories, 
expecting  little  mercy  at  the  hands  of  their  incensed  countrymen, 
attempted  to  gain  the  protection  of  the  works  above  by  scaling  the 
steep  face  of  the  hill,  which  had  been  rendered  extremely  slippery 
in  digging  for  the  earthworks  during  the  heavy  rains  of  the  pre- 
ceding days.  Hardly  able  to  maintain  a  precarious  foothold  at 
the  best,  constantly  exposed  to  the  relentless  and  unerring  aim  of 
the  forest-trained  militia,  the  wretched  fugitives  were  indeed  in 
pitiable  plight.  Linus  Parker,  afterwards  the  famous  Pittsfield 
hunter,  then  a  volunteer  from  Lenox,  describes  the  scene  as  horribly 
ludicrous  when  a  glimpse  was  caught,  through  the  veil  of  smoke, 
of  the  black  figures  scrambling  desperately  up  the  smooth  acclivi- 
ty, and,  one  after  another,  killed  or  wounfled,  tumbling  helplessly 
back  to  its  base.  "  I  could  not,"  he  said,  "  have  kept  from  shaking 
with  laughter  if  I  had  known  that  I  was  to  be  shot  dead  the  next 
minute."  The  horror  of  the  scene  did  not  strike  him  at  the 
moment  as  it  did  when  he  reviewed  it  in  memory.  The  conflict 


300  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

soon  became  general,  and  "  lasted,''  says  Stark  in  his  official  report, 
"two  hours,  and  was  the  hottest  that  he"  —  he  who  could  remem- 
ber, not  only  Bunker  Hill  and  Trenton,  but  the  fierce  fights  before 
Ticonderoga  in  the  old  French  and  Indian  Wars  — "  had  ever 
seen  :  it  was  like  one  continued  clap  of  thunder." 

The  German  dragoons  and  the  English  sharp-shooters  defended 
their  position  gallantly,  but  the  impetuous  daring  of  their  assail- 
ants was  irresistible.  The  American  musketeers  rushed  madly  up 
the  steep  ascent  to  within  a  few  paces  of  the  cannon's  mouth,  the 
more  surely  to  pick  off  the  cannoneers.  Attacked  in  front  and 
rear,  and  his  ammunition  nearly  expended,  Baum  ordered  his 
dragoons  and  infantry  to  cut  their  way  through  the  militia,  who 
were  almost  destitute  of  bayonets.  The  charge  was  bravely  made, 
but  was  as  bravely  met.  The  British  commander  fell,  mortally 
wounded ;  and  those  of  his  men  who  survived  were  mostly  made 
prisoners. 

The  soldiers  of  Stark  now  dispersed  in  various  directions.  Some 
were  detailed  to  guard  the  numerous  prisoners ;  others  were  em- 
ployed in  tending  the  wounded,  and  in  seeking  and  caring  for  the 
dead ;  many,  exhausted  with  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  went  in 
search  of  refreshment ;  and  not  a  few  betrayed  the  instincts  of 
irregular  troops,  and  devoted  themselves  to  the  -plunder  of  the 
British  camp.  Even  those  who  cared  nothing  for  the  spoils  as 
booty  desired  to  have  some  trophy  of  the  great  militia  battle-field. 
It  was  while  the  victors  were  thus  variously  occupied  that  Col. 
Breyman  approached  with  a  body  of  troops  which  had  been 
despatched  by  Burgoyne  in  response  to  Baum's  demand  for 
re-enforcements,  but  had  been  delayed  by  the  inability  of  heavy 
German  troops  to  act  efficiently  as  light  infantry  in  a  pitched 
fight  with  American  forest-mire. 

It  was  impossible  readily  to  recall  a  large  portion  of  the  scat- 
tered militia,  and  there  was  great  danger  that  the  fortunes  of  the 
day  would  be  reversed. 

Col.  Rossiter  distinguished  himself  by  coolness,  zeal,  and  cour- 
age in  his  exertions  to  collect  the  men  and  restore  order;  but  all 
would  have  been  in  vain,  had  not  Col.  Seth  Warner's  regiment, 
which  had  not  previously  been  engaged,  arrived  at  the  critical 
moment. 

They  had  been  stationed  with  the  militia  which  Gen.  Lincoln 
was  collecting  at  Manchester;  but,  on  Stark's  application,  had 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  301 

promptly  been  despatched  to  his  aid,  and  had  arrived,  on  the 
15th,  near  Bennington,  where  they  had  been  delayed  by  the  con- 
dition of  their  arms  and  the  scantiness  of  their  ammunition.  They 
now  came  fresh  from  repose  ;  and,  although  they  had  been 
reduced  to  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  by  the  Battle  of 
Hubbardston,  proved  adequate,  with  the  aid  of  what  militia  Stark 
could  bring  into  action,  and  the  captured  cannon,  to  rout  the 
force  of  Breyman,  although  that,  too,  was  accompanied  by  two* 
field-pieces.1 

The  rout  was  complete  and  precipitate.  The  enemy  abandoned 
his  artillery  and  many  of  his  wounded ;  and,  during  the  pursuit, 
the  Americans  took  a  considerable  number  of  prisoners  and  a 
large  quantity  of  small  arms.  Darkness  preserved  the  broken 
remnant,  who  were  received,  with  what  feelings  may  be  imagined, 
by  Burgoyne,  who  was  advancing  to  their  relief  with  the  Forty- 
seventh  British  Regiment. 

The  victory  was  perfect.  In  all  the  engagements,  the  Ameri-  \ 
cans  had  lost  only  about  thirty  killed  and  forty  wounded ;  while  the 
loss  of  the  enemy,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  more  than 
a  thousand.  The  prisoners  alone  were  at  least  six  hundred  and 
ninety-two,  of  whom  four  hundred  were  Germans,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  were  Tories.  They  exceeded  in  number 
the  whole  force  which  Burgoyne  acknowledged  to  have  been  sent 
out  in  Baum's  party. 

The  material  fruits  of  the  victory  were  four  brass  cannon,  nine 
hundred  dragoon  swords,  one  thousand  stand  of  excellent  arms, 
and  four  ammunition-wagons,  besides  what  the  militia  secured 
individually. 

After  the  battle,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  found  a  German  surgeon's 
horse,  loaded  with  panniers  full  of  bottled  wine.  The  wine  was  at 
once  administered  to  the  wounded  and  exhausted  soldiers ;  but 
Mr.  Allen  retained  two  of  the  large  square  bottles  as  trophies  of 
his  three  days'  "  tour ; "  and  they  were  long  kept  as  heirlooms  in 
his  family,  some  branch  of  which  probably  still  have  them  in  their 
possession. 

The  prisoners  were  sent,  under  charge  of  Gen.  Fellows,  to  Bos- 
ton ;  but  a  portion  were  left  on  the  way,  in  Berkshire  and  Hamp- 
shire Counties;  and  these,  except  one  servant  to  every  officer  who 

1  For  an  account  of  the  Battle  of  Bennington,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  see  Appendix. 


302  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

chose  to  have  one  at  his  own  expense,  were  ordered  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  to  be  consigned  to  the  care  of  the  committees  of  some 
of  the  towns  in  those  counties,  and  to  be  permitted  to  hire  out  to 
labor  on  such  terms  as  the  committee  might  think  equitable. 
Quite  a  number  did  so,  to  the  relief  of  the  great  scarcity  of  labor- 
ers; and  some  became  permanent  settlers  of  the  country. 

No  battle  in  the  Revolution  took  a  more  powerful  and  perma- 
"nent  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people  than  that  of  Bennington. 
To  this  end  a  variety  of  circumstances  combined.  The  dark  back- 
ground which  it  relieved  contributed  much  to  the  effect.  At  the 
moment  when  the  news  of  its  glorious  success  flashed  over  the 
country,  the  aspect  of  affairs,  to  the  popular  eye,  was  one  of  almost 
unbroken  gloom.  The  serene  mind  of  Washington,  indeed,  con- 
templated the  star  behind  the  cloud ;  but  he  was,  with  a  far  infe- 
rior force,  vainly  combating  the  passage  to  Philadelphia  of  the 
superb  army  of  Sir  William  Howe,  by  a  system  of  tactics  which, 
although  it  commands  the  admiration  of  posterity,  had  no  splendor 
for  the  multitude  in  that  day,  and  was  even  denounced  as  too 
"  Fabian  "  by  eminent  statesmen. 

Burgoyne,  almost  utterly  unopposed,  was  advancing  upon 
Albany  with  an  army  whose  power  and  terrors  were  studiously 
magnified  by  every  art  in  the  reach  of  its  general.  Marauding 
parties  upon  the  Hudson  indicated  that  the  fleet  and  forces  below 
only  waited  the  arrival  of  Burgoyne  at  Albany,  to  advance  to  the 
same  point,  and  complete  the  armed  barrier  which  was  to  divide 
the  East  from  the  South  and  West. 

On  this  night  of  gloom,  the  eye  of  Washington,  eagerly  watch- 
ing for  the  morning  star  which  his  trusting  spirit  prophesied,  did 
indeed  recognize  it  in  the  noble  exploit  of  Herkimer's  New-York 
militia,  and  that  most  mirth-provoking  termination  to  the  siege  of 
Fort  Stanwix.  But  the  connection  of  St.  Leger's  column  with 
Burgoyne's  scheme  was  too  remote  to  be  comprehended  by  the 
masses;  and,  in  fact,  his  success  was  not  essential  to  that  of  his 
principal.  Herkimer's  gallant  exploit,  therefore,  both  for  this 
reason  and  because  of  its  incompleteness,  although  to  Washington's 
eye  "it  first  relieved  the  gloomy  scene  of  the  northern  campaign," 
had  not  the  effect  on  the  country  which  he  desired  and  confidently 
expected  from  the  cutting-off  of  some  detached  body  of  Bur- 
goyne's army, —  the  restoration  of  lost  spirit  and  courage.  That 
remained  to  be  effected  by  the  Battle  of  Bennington. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  303 

This  had  in  it  all  the  elements  which  seize  upon  the  popular 
mind.  Standing  out  from  the  dark  background  we  have  rudely 
sketched,  it  glowed  with  the  perfect  halo  of  victory.  It  impressed 
itself  upon  the  imagination  also  in  other  ways.  It  occurred  in  a 
region  which,  romantic  in  itself,  had  just  become  associated  with 
the  thrilling  tragedy  of  Miss  McCrea.  The  wounded  and  the 
slain  of  the  enemy  were  the  abettors  of  her  savage  murderers ; 
perhaps  among  them  were  the  miscreants  themselves.  The  victors 
were  her  avengers.  The  defeated,  also,  were  a  portion  of  the 
most  boastful  and  arrogant  army  which  the  king  had  sent  over. 
The  victors  were  militia, —  the  most  popular  branch  of  the  military 
service,1  and  of  a  portion  of  the  militia,  which  to  those  at  a  dis- 
tance especially,  was  invested  with  a  sort  of  quaint  fame.  A  large 
portion  were  the  Green-Mountain  boys  who  had  once  been  led 
by  Ethan  Allen.  All  were  men  of  the  mountains,  and  were  led  by 
Stark,  the  story  of  whose  exploits  in  the  old  wars  now  passed  — 
nothing  lost  in  the  telling  —  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Hardly  a  less 
prominent  figure  in  the  well-wrought  scene,  as  it  was  pictured  by 
a  thousand  firesides,  was  that  of  the  bold  parson  who  went  with 
his  flock  to  share  the  dangers  of  the  battle-field ;  satisfied  that  the 
war  which  was  holy  enough  for  him  to  advocate  from  the  pulpit 
was  righteous  enough  for  him  to  take  part  in  with  his  musket. 

Such  were  some  of  the  elements  which  enabled  the  Battle  of 
Bennington  to  obtain  and  keep  so  large  a  place  in  the  national 
heart. 

But  the  first  great  thrill  of  joy  and  hope,  that  went  all  over  the 
land,  was  inspired  by  the  fact  that  a  large  detachment  of  that 
proudest  of  armies  had  been  utterly  routed  by  a  hastily  collected 
body  of  husbandmen,  half  armed,  and  imperfectly  organized  ;  that 
no  small  quantity  of  munitions  of  war  had  been  acquired ;  and 
that  the  march  of  Burgoyne  had  been  seriously  interrupted. 

In  effects  like  these  the  Battle  of  Bennington  may  justly  be 
classed,  and  not  in  any  particular  as  inferior,  with  those  of  Lex- 
ington and  Bunker  Hill,  Princeton  and  Trenton ;  and  no  prouder 
rank  could  be  accorded  it  among  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revo- 
lution. 

In  addition  to  the  moral  effect,  the  material  loss  inflicted  upon 

1  Although  in  form  and  organization  militia,  the  Pittsfield  volunteers  were, 
it  ought  to  be  stated,  individually  almost  all  veterans ;  some  of  them  having 
served  in  two  wars.  But  few,  if  any,  of  them  had  never  been  under  fire. 


304'  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Burgoyne  was  serious.  Out  of  his  small  force,  more  than  a  thou- 
sand men  —  a  majority  of  them  among  his  best  troops  —  were 
gone,  besides  those  he  had  lost  in  the  skirmishes  of  July.  His 
scanty  transportation  was  still  more  diminished  ;  and,  although  the 
captured  arms  and  ammunition  would  not  be  much  missed  from  his 
plentiful  supply,  it  was  a  serious  consideration  that  they  went  to 
replenish  the  depleted  armories  of  the  Americans,  who,  consequent 
upon  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  had  lost  no  less  than  128 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  an  immense  quantity  of  warlike  stores. 

Three  days  after  the  Battle  of  Bennington,  Schuyler  was  suc- 
ceeded, or  rather  supplanted,  in  the  command  of  the  northern 
army,  by  Gates, —  a  man  with  few  of  his  noble  qualities,  but  with 
many  of  his  weaknesses.  The  new  commander  was,  however, 
governed  by  a  selfish  ambition,  which  sometimes,  at  a  pinch,  stood 
him  in  the  stead  of  personal  courage  and  the  spirit  of  a  resolute 
commander. 

Emboldened  now  by  the  recent  disasters  to  the  enemy,  and  by 
the  augmenting  strength  of  his  own  forces,  Gates,  upon  the  9th  of 
September,  turned  the  faces  of  his  men  again  towards  the  invaders, 
and  moved  his  camp  northward  to  a  strong  position  which  com- 
manded the  passage  of  the  Hudson  at  Still  water. 

In  the  meantime,  Burgoyne,  by  the  most  arduous  exertions,  had 
succeeded  at  length  in  bringing  from  Lakes  George  and  Cham- 
plain  one  hundred  and  eighty  boats,  which,  laden  with  one  month's 
supplies,  to  that  extent  made  every  thing  ready  for  the  long- 
delayed  advance  upon  Albany. 

But  now  the  occupation  of  Stillwater  by  the  Americans  had 
made  that  movement  impracticable,  unless  they  were  first  dislodged 
from  that  commanding  position.  To  accomplish  this,  Burgoyne 
could  at  the  best  muster  less  than  six  thousand  men,  rank,  and  file ; 
and,  in  order  to  swell  his  numbers  to  the  utmost  of  his  capacity, 
he  resolved  to  draw  in  the  garrisons  stationed  at  Skenesborough, 
Fort  Edward,  and  Fort  Miller,  and  abandon  his  communication 
with  the  lakes. 

The  necessity  of  such  a  measure  on  the  part  of  the  British 
general  had  been  foreseen ;  and  a  plan  to  take  advantage  of  it  had 
been  arranged  between  Gates  and  Gen.  Lincoln,  Avho  still  com- 
manded the  depot  for  militia  at  Manchester. 

The  execution  of  this  scheme,  so  congenial  to  his  tastes,  was 
committed  to  Col.  Brown,  who,  with  a  detachment  from  his  militia 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  305 

regiment,  had  left  Pittsfield  on  the  6th  of  September,  and  was 
stationed  at  Pawlet,  to  which  place  Lincoln  also  removed  his  head- 
quarters. It  is  probable,  that,  when  setting  out  for  this  rendez- 
vous, he  contemplated  something  of  an  adventurous  nature ;  for 
the  Pittsfield  company  which  attended  him,  under  the  command 
of  Capt.  John  Strong  and  Lieut.  James  Easton,  is  recorded  to 
have  gone  "  every  man  with  a  horse  and  a  bag  of  meal." 

From  Pawlet,  Gen.  Lincoln  sent  out  three  detachments  of  five 
hundred  picked  light  troops  each.  To  one  of  these  Col.  Brown 
was  assigned,  with  directions  to  proceed  to  Fort  George,  to  destroy 
the  British  stores  collected  there,  and  release  the  American  pris- 
oners for  whom  that  post  had  been  made  a  depot.  While  this 
attempt  was  making,  Col.  Johnson  was  ordered  to  create  a  diver- 
sion at  the  northern  end  of  the  lake,  and,  if  opportunity  offered, 
to  attack  Mount  Independence. 

With  so  much  discretion  and  spirit  was  Col.  Brown's  expedition 
conducted,  that,  leaving  Pawlet  on  the  13th  of  October,  by  the 
morning  of  the  18th,  he  had  not  only  accomplished  the  objects 
designated  in  the  general's  orders,  but,  passing  up  Lake  George, 
he  had  surprised  all  the  outworks  between  its  northern  landing- 
place  and  the  main  fort  of  Ticonderoga,  including  Mount  Hope, 
Mount  Defiance,  an  isolated  block-house,  and  the  old  French  lines. 
Besides  these,  an  armed  brig,  several  gunboats,  and  two  hundred 
bateaux,  had  fallen  into  his  hands.  He  had  made  two  hundred  and 
ninety-three  prisoners ;  embracing  four  companies  of  regular  in- 
fantry, and  nearly  as  many  Canadians,  besides  the  officers  and 
crews  of  the  flotilla.  Five  cannon,  and  small  arms  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  captured  soldiers,  were  among  the  spoils ;  and, 
to  complete  the  gratifying  character  of  the  achievement,  one  hun- 
dred American  soldiers  were  released  from  captivity,  and  the 
Continental  standard,  which  had  been  left  behind  in  the  unseemly 
haste  of  the  late  evacuation,  was  recovered. 

Having  accomplished  this,  Col.  Brown  summoned  the  com- 
mandant of  Ticonderoga  to  surrender;  but  he  had  neither  siege- 
artillery  nor  men  to  enforce  a  compliance ;  and,  after  making 
demonstrations  against  the  works  for  a  few  days,  he  withdrew  his 
forces,  and,  destroying  the  captured  vessels,  returned  safely  with 
his  trophies  to  headquarters,  having  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  only 
nine  men. 

Meantime  the  conflict  went  on  between  the  armies  of  Gates 
20 


306  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

and  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  and  Stillwater;  and,  in  compliance  with 
the  order  of  the  General  Court  requiring  one-half  of  the  Berkshire 
militia  to  take  the  field,  Capt.  William  Francis  with  thirty  men 
marched  on  the  30th  of  September  to  Stillwater,  where  they 
remained  until  the  10th  of  October.  What  part  they  took  in  the 
battles  which  ccurred  in  that  interval  is  not  stated.  Dr.  Timothy 
Childs,  who  accompanied  the  detachment  as  surgeon,  remained  with 
the  army  until  the  capitulation  of  Burgoyne ;  which  was  signed  on 
the  17th,  when  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one  men, 
including  officers,  laid  down  their  arms.  Eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-six,  previously  made  prisoners  of  war,  were  not  included  in  the 
articles  of  capitulation. 

The  army  of  Burgoyne  marched  through  Berkshire  to  Boston, 
—  twenty-five  hundred  of  them  by  way  of  Pittsfield.1  The  march 
of  these  long-dreaded  and  now  but  half-humbled  enemies  through 
the  country  impressed  itself  strongly  on  the  memories  of  the 
people,  and  still  mingles  largely  in  their  vague  traditions.  It  is 
indicative  of  the  almost  total  absence  of  specie  in  those  days,  that 
the  possession  of  gold  and  silver,  in  what  seemed  profusion,  by 
the  passing  prisoners,  and  their  readiness  to  spend  it  for  such 
luxuries  as  the  impoverished  country  afforded,  was  what  took 
the  most  powerful  hold  of  the  imagination  of  the  Berkshire  folk; 
and  this  to  such  a  degree  as  4o  tinge  some  of  the  legends,  which 
they  handed  down,  with  superstitions  akin  to  those  which  attach 
to  the  piratical  hoards  of  Capt.  Kidd.  Men,  at  a  not  very  remote 
date,  have  been  known  to  engage  in  the  search  for  hidden  treasure 
along  the  route  of  Burgoyne's  men. 

Upon  the  surrender  of  the  British  army,  the  garrison  of  Ticon- 
deroga  withdrew  into  Canada :  the  excitements  and  alarms  which 
had  so  long  pervaded  the  territory  of  which  Berkshire  formed  a 
part  ceased,  and  comparative  quiet  reigned.  The  exultation  of  the 
people  over  the  successes  of  1777  are  quaintly  expressed  by  some 
ingenious  writer  of  that  day  in  the  following  verses,  which  were 
found  among  the  papers  of  Gen!  Stark  after  his  death :  — 

1  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  diary. 


HISTORY   OF    PITTSFIELD. 


307 


GEN.  BURGOYNE'S  OVERTHROW  AT  SARATOGA, 
OCTOBER,  1777. 

Here  followeth  the  direful  fate 

Of  Burgoyne  and  his  army  great, 

Who  so  proudly  did  display 

The  terrors  of  despotic  sway. 

His  power  and  pride,  and  many  threats, 

Have  been  brought  low  by  fort'nate  Gates, 

To  bend  to  the  United  States. 


British  prisoners  by  convention 

Foreigners  by  contravention 

Tories  sent  across  the  lake        .    ,     . 

Burgoyne  and  suit,  in  state 

Sick  and  wounded,  bruised  and  pounded  ) 

Ne'er  so  much  before  confounded  ) 

Prisoners  of  war  before  convention 

Deserters  come  with  kind  intention 

They  lost  at  Bennington's  great  battle,     ) 

Where  glorious  Stark  his  arms  did  rattle  J 

Killed  in  September  and  October     . 

Taken  by  brave  Brown,  some  drunk,  some  sober,  413 

Slain  by  high-famed  Herkiman 

On  both  flank,  on  rear  and  van 

Indians,  sutlers,  and  drovers, 

Enough  to  crowd  large  plains  over, 

And  those  whom  grim  death  did  prevent, 

From  fighting  against  our  continent  ; 

And  also  those  who  stole  away, 

Lest  down  their  arms  they  should  lay, 

Abhorring  that  obnoxious  day. 

The  whole  make  fourteen  thousand  men,  } 
Who  may  not  with  us  fight  again 

This  is  a  pretty  just  account 

Of  Burgoyne's  legions'  whole  amount, 

Who  came  across  the  northern  lakes 

To  desolate  our  happy  States. 

Their  brass  cannons  we  have  got  all,  — 

Fifty-six,  —  both  great  and  small  ; 

And  ten  thousand  stand  of  arms, 


2,442 

2,198 

1,100 

12 

528 

400 
300 

1,220 
600 


300 


4,413 


.  nnn 


308 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

To  prevent  all  future  ha.rms ; 
Stores  and  implements  complete, 
Of  workmanship  exceeding  neat; 
Covered  wagons  in  great  plenty, 
And  proper  harness  no  way  scanty, 
Amongst  our  prisoners  there  are 
Six  generals  of  fame  most  rare  ; 
Six  members  of  their  Parliament,  — 
Reluctantly  they  seem  content ; 
The  British  lords,  and  Lord  Balcarras, 
Who  came  our  country  free  to  harass. 
Two  baronets  of  high  extraction 
Were  sorely  wounded  in  the  action. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

LAST  YEARS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

II777-I783.] 

Battle  of  Stone  Arabia. — Death  of  Col.  Brown.  —  Major  Oliver  Root  defends 
Fort  Paris.  —  Pittsfield  Militia.  — Pittsfield  Soldiers  in  the  Continental  Army. 
—  Action  of  the  Town  in  filling  Quotas.  —  Hosea  Merrill. — Interesting  Inci- 
dents.—  Material  Contributions  of  Pittsfield  to  the  War  of  the  Revolution. — 
Collection  of  Taxes.  —  Curious  Papers  relating  thereto. 

IpROM  the  year  1777  to  the  close  of  the  war,  the  military 
JL'  record  of  Pittsfield  is  meagre,  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
earlier  years  of  the  Revolution.  While  the  patriotism  of  its  people 
continued  as  ardent,  and  they  were  as  prompt  as  before  to  respond 
to  the  calls  of  their  country,  the  war  was  in  a  great  measure 
turned  from  the  neighboring  frontier;  the  demand  for  extraordinary 
service  ceased ;  the  contributions  of  men  were  mostly  to  the  regu- 
lar Continental  army,  and  we  can  rarely  follow  them  in  their 
scattered  and  distant  service.  Even  could  we  trace  them  from 
field  to  field,  we  should  find,  in  the  story  of  their  conflicts,  that 
the  exploits  of  the  few  were  merged  in  the  achievements  of  the 
many ;  and  that  not  only  was  the  individual  lost  in  his  company, 
and  the  company  in  its  regiment,  but  that,  in  most  instances,  the 
corps  hid  the  regiment. 

A  few  incidents  of  special  local  interest  are,  however,  saved 
from  this  generally  unmarked  period ;  and  it  was  distinguished  by 
the  sad  but  not  inglorious  fight  in  which  many  of  the  sons  of 
Pittsfield  participated,  and  the  most  illustrious  soldier  which  she 
furnished  to  the  armies  of  the  Revolution  fell. 

But,  even  concerning  an  event  so  conspicuous  as  the  Battle  of 
Stone  Arabia,  one  is  compelled  to  rely  very  much  upon  tradition, 
both  for  the  events'of  the  day  and  their  immediate  causes.  Fortu- 
nately, however,  the  story  comes  to  us  through  so  many  trust- 
worthy sources  which  corroborate  each  other,  and  was  so  minutely 

809 


310  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

related  many  times  by  the  chief  actor  who  survived  the  slaughter, 
to  gentlemen  from  whom  we  have  received  it  directly.1 

In  the  autumn  of  1779,  Gen.  Sullivan,  by  the  orders  of  Gen. 
Washington,  had  inflicted  a  terrible  chastisement  upon  the  Mo- 
hawks, and  other  hostile  tribes  of  the  Six  Nations ;  burning  their 
villages,  destroying  their  orchards,  and  laying  waste  their  fields,  — 
a  devastation  whose  record  shows  that  these  tribes  had  sufficiently 
advanced  in  civilization  to  feel  keenly  the  severity  of  their  punish- 
ment. 

During  the  ensuing  winter,  this  visitation  was  bitterly  retaliated 
upon  the  friendly  Oneidas,  whose  homes  were  desolated,  and  their 
families  driven  in  upon  the  Americans  for  protection  and  support. 
Not  content  with  this,  the  Indians  and  the  Tories,  impelled  by  a 
common  resentment,  banded  together  under  Sir  John  Johnson  and 
the  chiefs  Brant  and  Corn-Planter,  prepared  to  pursue  their 
schemes  of  vengeance  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  a  luxuriant 
farming-country,  in  whose  population  there  was  a  convenient  infu- 
sion of  Tories,  although  the  great  majority  of  its  inhabitants  were 
ardently  patriotic. 

The  hostile  league  was  formidable ;  and  the  alarm  was  general, 
although,  until  fall,  apprehension  of  its  nature  and  designs  was 
vague.  The  horrors  of  Indian  warfare,  under  British  instigation, 
had  exceeded  the  atrocities  incited  by  the  French  foe.  The  mas- 
sacre at  Wyoming  in  1778  was  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the 
people;  and,  in  the  summer  of  1780,  the  danger  became  apparent, 
that  similar  scenes,  and  even  more  dreadful,  might  be  witnessed  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  —  the  fair  home  from  which  Sir  John 
Johnson  and  many  Tories  had  been  driven,  and  where,  moreover, 
a  harvest  of  unusual  abundance  was  ripening,  upon  which  Wash- 
ington's commissariat  was  known  to  place  much  dependence. 
Policy  and  exasperated  feeling  alike  devoted  this  lovely  region. 

Prominent  among  the  troops  which  rallied  to  its  defence  was  a 
Berkshire  regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  John  Brown ;  in  which 
there  was  a  company  of  seventy-nine  Pittsfield  and  Richmond 
men  under  Capt.  William  Ford,  the  same  who,  as  lieutenant,  had 
led  the  Pittsfield  detachment  at  Bennington. 

1  Dr.  0.  S.  Root  and  Franklin  Root,  Esq.,  grandsons  of  Major  Oliver  Root.  We 
have  also  consulted  the  accounts  of  Lossing  and  Stone,  and  valuahle  papers  in  Mr. 
Henry  C.  Van  Schaack's  collection ;  but  tradition  is  the  foundation  of  all  these 
reports. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  311 

The  regiment  was  composed  of  levies  from  the  three,  into  which 
the  militia  of  Berkshire  was  divided.  John  Ashley,  who  com- 
manded in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  was  the  senior  officer. 
John  Brown  had  commanded  the  middle  regiment  until  1778, 
when  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Lieut.-Col.  Rossiter.  In 
1780,  the  new  State  Constitution  went  into  operation;  and,  in 
accordance  with  it,  the  choice  of  regimental  officers  was  intrusted 
to  the  captains  and  subalterns,  who,  in  their  turn,  were  elected  by 
the  privates  of  their  respective  companies.  At  the  first  election 
under  this  law,  Col.  Brown  was  restored  to  his  old  position. 

About  the  same  time,  the  levy  for  the  Mohawk  was  made,  and 
Ashley  was  assigned  to  the  command,  and  proceeded  to  Albany. 
There  he  was  seized  with  an  illness  which  afterwards  proved  fatal ; 
and  Col.  Brown,  being  in  the  city  upon  private  business,  consented 
to  relieve  him,  being  assured  by  his  senior  and  friend,  that  the 
Berkshire  troops,  especially  since  his  recent  success  at  Lake  George, 
would  follow  him  more  readily  than  any  other  man.1 

Col.  Brown  accepted  the  position  probably  with  the  more  readi- 
ness, because  his  old  home,  Caughnawaga,  where  he  commenced 
the  practice  of  the  law,  was  in  the  district  he  was  called  to  defend. 
The  other  regimental  officers  were  Major  Oliver  Root,  Adjutant 
James  Easton,  son  of  the  colonel  of  the  same  name,  Quartermaster 
Elias  Willard,  and  Surgeon  Oliver  Brewster.  All  were  from 
Pittsfield,  except  Dr.  Brewster,  who  was  from  Partridgefield,  now 
Peru,  but  was  the  ancestor  of  two  prominent  Pittsfield  physicians.2 

Col.  Brown  assumed  the  command  on  the  14th  of  July.  We 
learn  nothing  more  of  the  regiment,  until,  on  the  18th  of  October, 
we  find  it  posted  at  Fort  Paris,  a  small  blockhouse  about  three 
miles  north  of  the  Mohawk  River,  and  in  that  part  of  the  district 
of  Stone  Arabia  which -now  forms  the  town  of  Palatine.  Four 
days  previous,  Sir  John  Johnson's  hordes  had  set  out  upon  a  grand 
mission  of  destruction  through  the  fine  valleys  of  the  Schoharie  and 

1  It  is  related  in  connection  with  this  change  of  commanders,  that  Col.  Brown, 
being  without  his  pistols,  borrowed,  and  gave  his  receipt  for,  those  of  Ashley ; 
which,  when  he  fell,  became  the  booty  of  some  plundering  savage.     Ashley  dying 
soon  after,  the  receipt  was  found  among  his  papers,  and  his  administrators  collected 
payment  from  the  estate  of  the  man  who  was  killed  in  his  place. 

2  Surgeon  Brewster  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  1760.     He  was  reputed  an 
excellent  physician,  and  a  man  of  marked  piety.     He  was  grandfather  of  the  late 
Dr.  Oliver  E.  Brewster,  of  Pittsfield,  surgeon  of  the  Fortieth  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment, in  the  civil  war  of  1861-5. 


312 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Mohawk ;  and,  wherever  they  had  passed,  the  devastation  was 
complete.  The  destroyers  left  unburned  not  one  house,  barn,  or 
stack  of  grain,  which  was  known  to  belong  to  a  Whig ;  and  hun- 
dreds of  the  patriotic  inhabitants  —  men,  women,  and  children  — 
were  pitilessly  murdered  while  flying,  or  begging  for  mercy. 


DR.  OUTER  BREWSTEH. 


On  the  18th,  Gen,  Robert  Van  Rensselaer,  an  exceedingly  slug- 
gish and  incompetent  commander,  coming  tardily,  with  a  consider- 
able body  of  militia,  to  the  relief  of  the  distressed  region,  reached 
Caughnawaga,  which  flourishing  village  he  found  still  in  flames. 
Learning  here  that  Fort  Paris,  which  is  about  twelve  miles  distant, 
was  to  be  attacked  the  next  day,  he  sent  orders  to  Col.  Brown  to 
march  out  in  the  morning,  and  form  a  junction  with  his  own  force 
at  an  appointed  rendezvous,  in  order  to  anticipate  the  enemy's 
plans  by  a  joint  attack.1 

Many  of  the  garrison  seem  to  have  considered  the  movement  a 
dangerous  one;  and  some  of  the  officers  even  counselled  disobe- 
dience of  the  order.  The  same  feelings  of  distrust  extended  to  the 

1  The  reason  assigned  for  Van  Rensselaer's  order  is  not  so  clear  as  one  could 
wish  ;  and  it  is  not  bettered  by  adopting  the  other  version,  that  it  directed  Brown 
to  attack  the  rear  while  Van  Rensselaer  assailed  the  front  of  the  enemy, —  which  is 
inconsistent  with  the  story  of  the  ambuscade.  The  whole  account  leaves  the 
impression  that  neither  officer  supposed  that  any  body  of  the  Indians  lay  between 
them. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSF1ELD.  313 

men.  One  of  them,  —  Giles  Parker  of  South  Adams,  —  whose 
courage  had  often  been  tried  by  the  severest  tests,  came  to  the 
colonel  in  the  morning,  and  warned  him  to  forego  his  march ; 
relating,  at  the  same  time,  an  ominous  dream  of  the  pre- 
vious night,  which  depressed  his  spirits.  "  What ! "  exclaimed  his 
commander,  "  are  you  afraid  to  march  with  me  ?  Then  stay 
behind."  The  soldier  indignantly  protested  "that  he  had  fought 
by  his  side  many  a  time ;  that  it  was  not  for  himself  he  feared,  but 
his  colonel."  Finding  him  fully  impressed  with  the  belief  that  evil 
would  attend  the  march,  Col.  Brown  seriously  advised  him  to 
remain  in  the  fort ;  but  the  noble  fellow  claimed  his  right  to  share 
the  danger  of  his  comrades,  and  was  among  the  first  to  fall  under 
the  murderous  fire  of  the  savages. 

The  one  thing  that  Col.  Brown  feared  was,  that  a  battle  in 
which  he  had  a  right  to  take  part  would  be  fought  without  him. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  October,  —  his  thirty-fifth 
birthday,  —  he  therefore  left  Fort  Paris,  with  about  three  hundred 
men,  to  form  a  junction,  in  obedience  to  his  orders,  with  Gen. 
Van  Rcnsselaer.  The  detachment  had  marched  perhaps  two  miles, 
when  a  house  was  discovered,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  upon  the  right,  before  which  was  a  family  group,  surround- 
ing a  man  just  mounting  his  horse.  This  person  rode  directly  to 
Major  Root,  who  was  in  advance,  and  inquired  if  he  commanded 
the  party ;  Col.  Brown,  who  was  in  the  rear,  was  pointed  out ;  and, 
riding  up  to  him,  the  stranger  stated  that  he  was  directed  by  Gen. 
Van  Rensselaer,  to  inform  him,  that  by  proceeding  down  a  road 
which  turned  to  the  left,  instead  of  that  he  was  then  pursuing,  he 
would  reach  the  general's  army. 

The  proposed  route  seemed  to  be  a  convenient  detour  around 
the  region  where  the  presence  of  the  enemy  began  to  be  indicated 
by  the  smoke  of  burning  buildings ;  and,  the  well-arranged 
family  scene  doubtless  helping  to  ward  off  suspicion,  unfortunate 
credence  was  given  to  the  stranger,  without  demanding  further 
guaranties,  and  without  detaining  him  as  a  surety  for  his  good 
faith. 

The  route  was  changed  in  accordance  with  his  directions,  and 
soon  led  into  a  long  and  narrow  clearing,  extending  to  the  river,  — 
near  a  ruined  work  called  Fort  Keyzer, —  and  surrounded  by  heavy 
woods.  The  detachment  had  well  advanced  into  this  treacherous 
cul-de-sac,  —  the  colonel  and  major  both  being  at  the  head  of  the 


314  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

column, — when  a  sergeant  near  them  exclaimed,  "See  that 
damned  Indian ! "  and  immediately  discharged  his  musket.  At 
once  the  woods  resounded  with  savage  yells;  and  a  thousand 
muskets,  gleaming  from  behind  sheltering  trees,  poured  in  a  rapid 
and  murderous  cross-fire  upon  the  entrapped  and  bewildered 
troops.  Col.  Brown,  who  was  conspicuous  by  his  fine  person  and 
his  official  sash,  was  shot  through  the  heart  at  the  first  fire,  and 
fell  upon  his  face  without  a  word  or  a  struggle.1 

Any  attempt  to  restore  order  among  the  panic-stricken  troops 
would  have  been  worse  than  futile ;  and  officers,  as  well  as  men, 
fled  precipitately  towards  ihe  fort.  There  was  no  lack  of  vigor  in 
the  pursuit ;  but  the  irresistible  impulse  to  tomahawk  and  scalp  the 
wounded  delayed  the  savages,  and  enabled  a  large  portion  of  the 
fugitives  to  escape.  Major  Root  saw  one  man  crawl  into  the  woods 
and  conceal  himself,  while  his  over-eager  pursuers  passed  on  with- 
out heeding  him ;  but  he  thought  almost  every  man  of  the  seriously 
injured  was  killed  and  scalped.  Forty  were  reported  slain. 

The  fort  was  filled  with  women  and  children,  who,  upon  the 
approach  of  the  savages,  had  fled  to  it  from  the  neighboring  coun- 
try ;  and  their  shrieks  and  moanings  added  to  the  confusion,  as  the 
flying  soldiers  crowded  in  disorder  into  the  gates.  Fortunately, 
Major  Root  had  been  trained  in  a  school  which  rendered  him 
familiar  with  such  scenes,  as  well  as  with  the  character  of  the 
enemy  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  The  fort,  he  knew,  was  not  at 
all  competent  to  sustain  an  assault  from  the  forces  which  now 
thronged  into  the  edges  of  the  clearing  around  it,  and  were 
evidently  eager  for  an  attack.  But  he  was  well  aware  of  the  ter- 
ror with  which  "  big  guns  "  inspired  the  savages,  and  was  convinced, 
by  the  temerity  with  which  they  exposed  themselves,  that  they 
believed  him  unsupplied  with  artillery.  The  wretched  little  for- 
tress, however,  was,  by  chance,  supplied  with  one  poor  dwarf  of  a 
four-pounder ;  although  its  ammunition  was  limited  to  a  solitary 
ball  and  three  charges  of  powder. 

With  this  the  major  determined  to  make  a  demonstration ;  and, 

1  Lossing  relates  the  following  anecdote :  "  On  his  way  to  the  Mohawk  country, 
Col.  Brown  called  upon  Ann  Lee,  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  Shaking  Quakers. 
He  assured  her,  byway  of  pleasantry,  that,  on  his  return,  he  should  join  her  society. 
A  fortnight  after  his  death,  two  members  of  the  society  waited  upon  his  widow, 
told  her  that  her  husband,  in  spirit,  had  joined  '  Mother  Ann,'  and  that  he  had 
given  express  orders  for  her  to  become  a  member.  She  was  not  to  be  duped,  and 
bade  them  begone." 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  315 

wheeling  his  gun  to  the  gateway,  he  sent  the  lonely  missile  bowl- 
ing among,  or  at  least  towards,  the  astonished  groups.  A  charge 
of  horse-chains  next  went  singing  through  the  air.  But  in  the 
mean  while,  by  order  of  the  major,  a  huge  old  cast-iron  dinner-pot 
had  been  broken  up ;  and,  when  its  fragments  came  shrieking  and 
screaming  among  the  besiegers,  it  completed  their  dismay,  and 
they  withdrew  rapidly  within  the  shelter  of  the  woods.  Even  the 
Tory  officer  who  commanded  them  does  not  seem  to  have  noticed 
the  scarcity  of  ammunition  which  the  strangeness  of  the  missiles 
would  have  indicated  to  one  of  more  shrewdness  or  experience ;  for 
he  gave  over  his  purposed  attack,  remarking,  that  "  he  had  a  mind 
to  take  that  fort  by  storm ;  but  it  would  cost  too  many  lives." 

The  militia  rallied  to  the  support  of  Gen.  Van  Rensselaer  in 
such  numbers,  that,  there  being  no  longer  need  of  the  services 
of  the  Berkshire  regiment,  it  returned  home  at  the  expiration  of 
its  term  of  three  months,  on  the  21st  of  October. 

The  affair  of  Stone  Arabia  was  the  only  occasion,  subsequent 
to  1777,  when  the  Pittsfield  militia  met  the  enemy  in  actual  con- 
flict. It  responded  promptly,  however,  when  called  upon  in 
various  alarms. 

While  Johnson  was  invading  the  Mohawk  Valley,  Lieut.  Joel 
Stevens  led  a  small  detachment  to  Fort  Edward,  where  signs  of 
danger  appeared  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  Capt.  Rufus  Allen,  with 
twenty-six  men,  "marched  forty  miles,"  probably  to  the  same 
point. 

When  Connecticut  was  invaded  by  Gov.  Tryon  in  the  summer 
of  1779,  Lieut.  Stevens  went  with  fourteen  men  to  New  Haven. 
In  October,  1781,  the  same  officer,  having  been  promoted  to  a 
captaincy,  repaired,  with  Lieuts.  Lebbeus  Backus  and  Nathan 
Warner,  to  Saratoga  upon  an  alarm  in  that  quarter. 

There  may  have  been  other  occasions  when  the  militia  of  the 
town  were  called  out  in  the  closing  years  of  the  war ;  but,  if  so, 
they  were  unrecorded,  and  probably  bloodless,  campaigns,  and 
with  no  remembered  adventure. 

The  reader  who  has  followed  us  thus  far  will  not  attribute  it 
solely  to  local  pride,  that  we  claim  for  the  Pittsfield  militia  a  record 
of  peculiar  brilliancy  and  usefulness.  From  the  spring  morning 
when  Capt.  Noble's  minute-men,  with  rattling  drum  and  scream 
of  fife,  took  up  their  march  for  Cambridge,  until  Capt.  Stevens's 
volleying  musketry  welcomed  the  return  of  peace,  its  able-bodied 


316  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

men  — with  those  of  all  Berkshire  as  well  —  had  been,  and  the 
General  Court  practically  recognized  them  to  be,  virtually  a 
frontier  garrison  posted  behind  the  ramparts  of  their  hills,  but 
ever  ready  to  sally  out  to  any  point  where  danger  gathered.  Their 
fame  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  names  of  Ticonderoga, 
Bennington,  Lake  George,  and  the  fields  of  Canada,  which  they 
helped  to  make  historic ;  and  more  sadly,  but  hardly  less  gloriously, 
are  they  associated  with  the  ambuscade  of  Fort  Keyser. 

The  Continental  soldiers  furnished  by  the  town,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn,  served  with  credit ;  but  little  has  been  preserved  of  their 
individual  record.  The  story  of  the  demand  and  supply  of  men 
for  that  service  is,  however,  of  curious  interest ;  and  we  have  a 
general  statement  of  the  several  calls,  of  the  bounties  paid,  and 
of  the  other  means  used  to  raise  the  men. 

In  the  spring  of  1778,  Pittsfield  had  in  the  Continental  service 
thirty-two  men,  all  enrolled  within  the  two  years  immediately 
preceding,  for  terms  either  of  three  years  or  during  the  war.  A 
call  for  six  additional  having  been  made,  the  town,  on  the  20th 
of  May,  authorized  the  commissioned  officers  "  to  promise  to  the 
Continental  soldiers  now  to  be  raised,  the  sum  of  £180 ;  it  having 
been  granted  to  the  town  by  the  General  Court,  provided  it 
procure  six  able-bodied  men  to  serve  in  the  Continental  arm  y  for 
the  term  of  nine  months." 

The  next  call  was  for  seven  men  for  nine  months'  service ;  and 
on  the  30th  of  June,  1779,  a  committee  of  seven  was  appointed 
to  hire  them,  with  power  "  to  plight  the  credit  of  the  town "  for 
whatever  sums  they  might  promise  as  bounty. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  the  committee  reported  that  they  had  made 
the  following  enlistments  upon  the  terms  specified :  — 

John  Wright  and  Ozem  Strong,  £200  Continental  money  each,  and  £9 
each  in  neat  cattle  at  the  rate  at  which  they  were  selling  in  the  year  1 7  75. 

David  Johnson  and  Samuel  Smith,  £300  Continental  money  each,  on  their 
passing  muster. 

Jeffrey  Hazzard  (colored),  £200  Continental  money,  and  nine  pounds' 
worth  of  merchantable  wheat  at  4s.  Gd.  per  bushel,  to  be  paid  to  Nathan 
Bobbins  by  Dec.  1,  1779,  provided  Hazzard  passes  muster. 

Isaac  Morse,  £200  Continental  money,  and  £10  worth  of  wheat,  or  corn 
at  the  rate  of  wheat,  by  Feb.  1,  1779,  at  4s.  per  bushel,  provided  he  passes 
muster.  Morse  entitles  the  town  to  his  State  bounty. 

Daniel  Bates,  £115  Continental,  and  £13. 10s.  worth  of  wheat  at  4s.  6d  per 
bushel,  by  Dec.  1,  1779,  provided  he  passes  muster. 


HISTOBY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  317 

The  town  proceeded  to  tax  itself  £2,700  to  meet  these  bounties, 
and  directed  the  tax  to  be  assessed  and  collected  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. It  was  also  provided,  "  that,  if  any  person  is  disposed  to  pay 
either  of  the  soldiers  so  raised  what  said  person's  rate  shall  be, 
on  his  producing  said  soldier's  receipt  to  the  collector  he  shall 
cross  the  same." 

The  matter  was,  however,  not  yet  disposed  of;  for,  in  the  war- 
rant for  town-meeting  on  the  2d  of  the  following  August,  an 
article  was  inserted,  "  To  see  what  measures  the  town  will  come 
into,  to  recover  three  of  the  nine-months'  men  that  have  been 
enlisted,  mustered  in,  and  received  their  bounty,  but  have  since 
absconded :  if  not  recoverable,  to  see  by  what  means  their  places 
shall  be  supplied."  The  town  authorized  the  selectmen  to  send 
some  person  after  the  runaways,  and  passed  over  the  article  look- 
ing to  the  possibility  of  their  absolute  loss ;  but  voted,  that  if  Capt. 
John  Strong  should  deliver  Joshua  Chapell  to  the  superintendent 
of  this  county,  and  procure  a  certificate  that  the  said  Chapell  is 
received  as  a  nine-months'  man,  the  treasurer  of  this  town  shall 
pay  to  Lieut.  Rufus  Allen  eight  hard  dollars."  Which  of  the 
seven  were  the  deserters  is  not  stated.  All  finally  served  in  that 
contingent,  except  Ozem  Strong  and  Jeffrey  Hazzard,  whose 
places  were  filled  by  Joshua  Chapell  and  Jonathan  Morey. 
Hnzzard's  name  appears  afterwards  on  the  Continental  rolls  as 
having  been  mustered  on  the  14th  of  November,  1779,  into  service 
"during  the  war." 

In  December,  1780,  came  a  more  formidable  requisition.  No 
less  than  sixteen  men  were  wanted  to  serve  for  three  years  or 
during  the  war ;  and,  at  a  meeting  on  the  14th,  a  committee  of 
nine  men,  chosen  from  different  parts  of  the  town,  was  appointed 
to  devise  the  most  eligible  mode  of  procuring  them.  It  consisted 
of  Joshua  Robbins,  Eli  Root,  Esq.,  Joseph  Fairfield,  Lieut.  Wm. 
Barber,  Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  Capt.  Rufus  Allen,  Capt.  David 
Bush,  and  Daniel  Hubbard,  who,  on  the  20th,  reported  the  follow- 
ing elaborate  plan :  — 

That  the  town  choose  two  good  and  faithful  men  to  hire  the  said  six- 
teen men,  and  to  obligate  themselves,  on  the  credit  of  the  town,  to  pay  each 
man  whom  they  shall  so  hire  and  procure  the  sum  of  thirty  pounds  in  hard 
money,  over  and  above  all  State  and  Continental  pay  and  rewards,  within 
three  weeks,  or  otherwise  to  such  person's  acceptance  and  satisfaction. 

2d.  The  officers  of  the  three  militia  companies  into  which  the  town  was 


318  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

divided,  were  requested  to  assemble  their  companies  at  the  meeting-house 
at  nine  o'clock,  the  next  Monday  morning,  and  to  use  their  utmost  exertions 
to  obtain  a  fall  attendance  of  their  men. 

3d.  That  the  aforesaid  committee  of  two  attend  the  above  meeting,  and 
use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  procure  the  required  number  of  men  for  the 
aforementioned  sum ;  at  the  same  time  giving  information  of  the  State  and 
Continental  pay  and  rewards. 

4th.  That  a  committee  of  five  be  chosen  from  the  several  parts  of  the 
town,  for  the  purpose  of  dividing  the  ratable  polls  and  estate  into  as  many 
classes  as  there  shall  be  men  wanting  after  the  committee  of  two  have  made 
their  trial  aforesaid. 

5th.  That  the  committee  of  two,  immediately  after  their  trial  aforesaid, 
make  report  to  the  committee  of  five,  who,  thereupon,  shall  immediately 
proceed  to  class  the  town.1 

6th.  That,  in  forming  said  classes,  the  committee  shall  be  governed  by  the 
last  valuation  or  list,  which  was  taken  by  the  assessors,  having  no  regard  to 
the  dormant  lands.2 

7th.  That  the  committee  shall  consult  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants 
by  classing  together  persons  who  live  in  the  same  neighborhood,  so  far  as  is 
practicable ;  and  shall  transmit  to  some  principal  member  of  each  class  a 
list  of  the  persons  contained  in  their  respective  classes,  together  with  the 
amount  of  each  person's  estate. 

8th.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  class,  so  made  and  formed,  to  pro- 
cure an  able-bodied,  effective  man,  to  the  acceptance  of  the  muster  master, 
to  serve  in  the  Continental  Army  for  three  years  or  during  war. 

9th.  That  each  class,  unless  they  otherwise  agree  among  themselves,  shall 
tax  its  members  to  such  an  amount  as  shall  be  found  necessary  in  order  to 
procure  such  men,  one  third  thereof  to  be  assessed  on  polls,  and  the  other 
two-thirds  upon  estates. 

10th.  That  reference  be  had  to  the  resolve  of  the  General  Court  of  the 
2d  of  December,  1780,  for  the  compelling  the  respective  classes,  or  individuals 
of  classes,  to  comply  with  their  respective  duties  on  the  premises. 

The  report  was  made  by  David  Bush,  and  was  adopted,  with  the 
exception  of  the  clause  excluding  the  dormant  lands  from  a  share 
in  the  taxation. 

It  was  also  resolved  that  the  classes  should  "  exhibit  to  the 
town  what  each  soldier  cost  its  respective  class,  which  sums  shall 
be  made  a  town  debt." 

1  The  towns  were  authorized  by  the  General  Court  to  divide  their  inhabitants 
and  estates  into  as  many  classes  as  there  were  men  in  their  quota,  and  to  compel 
each  class  to  produce  its  man. 

2  Lands  of  non-resident  proprietors,  unimproved,  and  by  the  old  law  not  sub- 
ject to  town  taxation. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  319 

The  town  'selected  Capt.  James  Noble  and  Mr.  Joseph  Fairfield 
for  its  "  committee  of  two  good  and  faithful  men,"  and  the  follow- 
ing five  to  class  the  town :  Woodbridge  Little,  Eli  Root,  Rufus 
Allen,  James  D.  Colt,  and  Oliver  Root. 

The  "  utmost  endeavors  "  of  the  first  committee  did  not  suffice 
to  persuade  any  of  the  militia  that  thirty  pounds,  even  in  hard 
money,  was  an  adequate  bounty ;  and  the  town  was  divided  into 
sixteen  classes,  fifteen  of  which  procured  their  men  previous  to  the 
first  of  January.  The  bounty  paid  in  six  cases  was  £50 ;  in  five 
cases,  £55 ;  in  one*  £55.  7s. ;  in  three,  £60,  —  all  of  course  in  specie 
or  its  equivalent. 

The  class  nominally  delinquent,  according  to  a  certificate  of  the 
selectmen  April  20,  1781,  paid  to  its  head  their  respective  assess- 
ments, sufficient  to  procure  a  man,  to  his  full  satisfaction ;  and  he 
undertook  to  hire  a  soldier  and  idemnify  the  class,  but,  for  some 
reason  unexplained,  failed  to  do  so. 

The  last  call  upon  the  town  during  the  Revolution  was  in  July, 
1781,  when  thirteen  men  were  required  for  the  service  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, not  the  Continent,  for  three  months.  The  town  was 
classed  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Woodbridge  Little,  Eli  Root, 
Lebbeus  Backus,  and  Capts.  William  Barber,  Joel  Stevens,  and 
James  D.  Colt ;  and  the  men  were  promptly  raised. 


HOSEA  MEHKH-L. 


The  name  of  Hosea  Merrill  is  borne  on  the  Revolutionary  rolls 
as  having  served  for  Pittsfield  in  1780.    Mr.  Merrill  was  born  at  He- 


320  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

bron,  Conn.,  in  1761,  and  removed  to  Pittsfield  at  the  age  of  twelve. 
The  family  tradition  is,  that,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  and  several 
other  boys,  providing  themselves  with  old  guns,  powder-horns,  and 
bullets  made  by  melting  down  pewter  spoons,  proceeded  to  Wash- 
ington's headquarters  on  the  Hudson,  and  offered  their  services ; 
and,  when  asked  by  the  commander-in-chief  what  they  came  for, 
young  Merrill  replied  for  them,  "  To  fight  the  British ; "  and  to  the 
question,  what  position  they  desired,  his  answer  was,  "The  post  of 
danger."  Boys  of  nineteen  were  worth  too  many  pounds  of  "  hard 
money, "  in  filling  quotas,  to  permit  us  to  accept  fhis  story  literally ; 
but  it  indicates  the  opinion  which  prevailed  of  Mr.  Merrill's  gal- 
lantry. It  is  better  authenticated,  that  he  was  on  patrol  on  the 
night  when  Major  Andre  was  brought  in  a  prisoner;  that  he  was 
selected  as  one  of  his  guards,  and  was  afterwards  posted  in  the 
room  with  him  during  his  last  night  on  earth,  and  witnessed  the 
sad  spectacle  of  his  execution.1 

The  contributions  of  material,  as  well  as  those  of*  men,  made 
by  Pittsfield  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  were  large.  Rev.  Mr. 
Allen  speaks  of  the  demands  made  upon  the  county  of  Berkshire 
as  being  extraordinary,  in  proportion  to  those  upon  the  rest  of  the 
State  ;  which  is  explained  by  her  proximity  to  the  theatre  of  war. 
In  several  exigencies,  portions  of  the  county  were  stripped  of 
almost  all  means  of  transportation.  In  others,  as  in  the  alarm  of 
1777,  every  article  of  lead  or  pewter  which  could  be  laid  hands  upon 
was  seized  :  cattle  and  grain  were  demanded  in  large  but  not  in  so 
exhaustive  quantities.  There  were  resolutions  of  advice  from  the 
Provincial  Congress,  and  orders  from  the  General  Court,  —  of  equal 
authority  in  Berkshire, — that  the  town  should  furnish  certain 
articles  of  clothing,  and  equipments  for  its  soldiers,  and  they  were 
always  forthcoming ;  there  were  special  voluntary  contributions 
for  the  comfort  of  the  sons  of  the  town  in  the  army,  and  they  were 
liberally  made. 

The  taxes,  as  in  most  towns,  were  sometimes  in  arrears.  The 
political  disorders  of  the  times  created  the  utmost  financial  confu- 
sion ; 2  and,  when  the  imposts  came  to  be  enormously  increased,  some 

1  Mr.  Merrill  was  in  after-life  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Revolutionary  soldier 
returned  to  private  life,  —  a  calm,  even-tempered,  collected,  and  thoughtful  man; 
kind  and  affectionate  ;  speaking  ill  of  none ;  quiet,  industrious,  and  economical ; 
spending  a  long  life  without  reproach,  and  fearing  no  man. 

2  Some  idea  of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  even  in  the  earlier  years  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  321 

irregularity  in  their  collection  was  to  be  expected,  especially  among 
a  people  largely  dependent  upon  their  daily  labor,  while  a  majority 
of  its  able-bodied  middle-aged  and  young  men  were  in  the  mili- 
tary service.  Still  the  efforts  of  the  town  to  collect  the  dues  of  the 
State  were  unremitting  and  fairly  successful.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some  difficulties  in  the  matter  which  called  for  the  aid  of 
legislation.  The  exemption  from  local  taxation  of  the  unim- 
proved or  "  dormant "  lands  of  non-resident  proprietors  in  the 
town  had  long  been  a  source  of  complaint,  and,  the  State  tax 
upon  them  being  now  refused  payment,  produced  troubles  which 
are  explained  in  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  intro- 
duced, and  probably  passed,  in  the  General  Court  of  1781 :  — 

"  Whereas  it  appears  that  Joel  Dickinson  and  Joseph  Wright,  constables 
and  collectors  in  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  labor  under  difficulty,  and  are  likely 
to  suffer  damage  in  their  estates,  on  account  of  the  dormant  lands  of  the 
non-resident  proprietors,  as  the  law  now  stands,  as  no  purchasers  appear  to 
bid  off  said  lands  when  they  are  offered  for  sale ;  therefore  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Berkshire  is  authorized 
and  directed  to  levy  the  execution  or  executions  which  he  may  have  against 
said  collectors  upon  said  proprietors'  lands  in  the  several  rate-bills,  in  the 
hands  of  said  collectors  and  constables,  and  cause  so  much  of  the  lands  so 
taken  to  be  apprized,  by  three  indifferent  men,  under  oath,  as  will  pay  the 
sum  or  sums  set  upon  their  lands,  and  the  costs,  and  the  lands  so  apprized 
to  become  the  property  of  this  Commonwealth ;  which  shall  discharge  such 
part  of  the  aforesaid  executions  as  shall  be  levied  upon  such  dormant  lands." 

Another  difficulty,  which  it  must  have  puzzled  the  legislative 
wisdom  to  resolve,  will  appear  from  the  following  draft  of  a  peti- 
tion to  which  we  can  find  no  other  allusion  nor  any  response : x  — 

STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAT. 

To  THE  HONORABLE  THE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  HONORABLE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTA- 
TIVES IN  GENERAL  COURT  ASSEMBLED. 

The  petition  of  the  assessors  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield  humbly  sheweth, 
That  your  petitioners  have  received  an  act  from  your  Honors  requiring 
them  to  inquire  into  the  ratable  property  of  the  State,  and  that  they  have 
possessed  themselves  of  the  same  as  to  the  town  of  Pittsfield  ;  but  that  they 
are  so  unhappy  as  not  to  agree  what  is  the  real  value  thereof,  —  varying 
equal  to  their  numbers. 

war,  may  be  found  by  consulting  the  comparative  table  of  prices  left  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Allen,  and  given  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume. 
1  T.  C.  C.,  p.  250. 
21 


322  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Such  being  our  situation,  we  most  humbly  entreat  your  Honors  would  be 
pleased  to  give  us  the  value  of  our  currency ;  or  else  we  must  be  subjected  to 
the  fine  you  have  enjoined,  or  lie  at  your  mercy  to  be  doomed. 
We  are,  with  all  deference, 

Your  Honors'  most  obedient  servants. 
PITTSFIELD,  Sept.  1, 1778. 

Peace  and  acknowledged  independence  came  to  the  Colonies  in 
1783,  and  the  event  was  celebrated  in  Pittsfield  with  great  rejoi- 
cings. The  militia  paraded,  and  fired  volleys  of  musketry.  There 
is  a  dim  tradition  of  a  salute  said  to  have  been  fired  from  a  cannon 
cast  at  Lenox  furnace ;  but  that  is  doubtful. 

Rev.  Mr.  Allen  preached  a  Thanksgiving  discourse,  glowing  with 
fervent  gratitude  to  the  God  of  nations,  and  not  failing  to  incul- 
cate the  great  principles  by  which  he  believed  the  republic  ought 
to  be  governed.  The  glorious  future  which  he  predicted  for  his 
country  long  dwelt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  heard  him.  A  rare 
opportunity  was  afforded  for  the  unchecked  display  of  his  hopeful 
and  enthusiastic  nature. 

The  quaint  old  gambrel-roofed  house,  afterwards  known  as  the 
Chandler-Williams  place,  and  now  standing  a  little  east  of  its 
original  location,  had  been  commenced,  a  few  years  previous  to 
that  date,  by  Col.  Easton,  who  intended  it  for  the  residence  of  his 
son.  It  was  not  quite  finished :  but  in  it  a  great  feast,  known  to 
tradition  as  the  Peace  Party,  was  held ;  among  the  viands  for 
which,  half  a  roasted  ox  figured  conspicuously  between  platoons 
of  geese  and  turkeys.  Punch  stood  in  huge  tubs ;  wine  and  cider 
flowed  in  sparkling  abundance. 

Young  and  old  flocked  from  every  direction  to  the  gathering. 
The  joyous  merriment  of  the  occasion,  the  gayety  of  the  dance, 
and  the  rustic  splendors  of  the  preparations,  impressed  themselves 
upon  the  memory  of  children  who  witnessed  the  scene  with  a 
vividness  which  did  not  fade  until  their  dying  day.1 

Among  the  incidents  told  in  connection  with  the  occasion  was 
one  which  very  strikingly  illustrates  the  customs  of  that  period. 
The  ladies  came  from  far  and  near,  mounted  on  their  pillions, 
and  dressed  in  fabrics  suitable  for  the  ride.  But  they  brought 
with  them  the  more  costly  robes  in  which  they  were  to  be  arrayed 

1  The  late  venerable  Madam  James  D.  Colt,  who  related  the  story  to  the 
writer  in  1863  with  an  enviable  vigor  of  description,  was  a  child  of  ten  years 
when  she  looked  on  with  admiring  eyes  at  the  great  Peace  Party  of  1783. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  323 

for  the  party ;  trusting  to  the  house  of  some  hospitable  villager,  or 
the  neighboring  tavern  of  Capt.  Strong,  to  furnish  room  for  making 
their  toilet.  Now,  few  in  those  days  totally  abstained  from 
intoxicating  beverages ;  and  one  good  lady  was  so  profuse  in  her 
patriotic  libations,  that,  before  the  close  of  the  festivities,  her  sense 
of  the  proper  use  of  things  was  so  confused,  that  she  unconsciously 
wrapped  a  huge  piece  of  roast  beef,  reeking  with  gravy,  in  her  rich 
brocade,  —  with  what  consequence  to  its  lustre  need  not  be  told. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  BERKSHIRE  CONSTITUTIONALISTS. 

[1775-1780.] 

• 

Political  Status  of  the  County.  —  Its  Origin  in  the  Organization  of  the  Provisional 
Provincial  Government.  —  The  Provincial  Congress.  —  Plan  devised  by  the 
Continental  Congress  for  the  Government  of  Massachusetts.  The  Western 
Counties  oppose  it,  but  yield.  — Reasons  for  reviving  their  Opposition.  — Feel- 
ing against  the  Provincial  Charter  accounted  for.  —  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  Position. 
—  The  Judicial  System  of  the  Province  oppressive.  —  The  Civil  Administration 
excluded  from  Berkshire.  —  The  Memorial  of  Pittsfield.  —  Delay  of  other 
Counties  in  re-organizing  their  Courts. 

~V~TT~E  must  now  retrace  our  steps,  in  order  to  review  the  polit- 
V  V  ical  history  of  the  town,  and  in  some  sort  that  of  the 
county,  during  the  vexed  years  which  transformed  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  from  colonial  subjects  of  a  distant  prince  to  citizens 
of  an  independent,  constitutional  State,  —  a  review  which,  owing  to 
the  peculiar  relations  borne  for  the  greater  part  of  this  period  by 
the  county  to  the  Commonwealth,  requires  a  very  exact  statement 
of  facts  and  the  nicest  discrimination  of  motives. 

From  the  summer  of  1775  until  the  adoption  of  the  State  Con- 
stitution in  1780,  a  party  composed  of  the  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  Berkshire,  under  the  acknowledged  leadership  of  the 
first  minister  of  Pittsfield,  ruled  the  county  in  open  resistance,  so 
far  as  civil  government  was  concerned,  to  the  authority  set  up  at 
Boston. 

The  political  status  of  Berkshire  during  all  that  time  was 
entirely  anomalous.  The  nearest  parallel  which  history  affords  is 
found  in  the  position  of  those  feudal  barons  who  acknowledged 
an  obligation  to  support  their  sovereign  in  his  foreign  wars,  while 
maintaining  against  him  their  own  assumed  rights  of  internal  gov- 
ernment. In  like  manner,  the  people  of  Berkshire,  while  for  more 

324 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  325 

than  five  years  refusing  to  admit  the  civil  administration  of  the 
State  within  their  limits,  granted  it  military  aid  by  a  more  prompt 
and  liberal  contribution  of  men  than  any  other  county,  paid  their 
taxes  as  readily  as  the  circumstances  of  a  community  upon  an  im- 
poverished and  disturbed  frontier  permitted,  and  sent  their  repre- 
sentatives to  the  General  Court,  in  which,  however,  they  recognized 
powers  much  more  limited  and  temporary  than  that  body  claimed. 
Unsurpassed  in  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  national  independ- 
ence, they  responded  with  ardor  to  every  call  made  upon  them  in 
that  behalf ;  but,  not  less  earnest  in  their  desire  for  constitutional 
liberty  at  home,  they  believed  it  insecure  if  any  State  government 
capable  of  perpetuating  itself  should  be  erected,  except  upon  the 
basis  of  a  constitution  and  bill  of  rights  established  by  the  express 
consent  of  a  majority  of  the  people. 

So  thorough  were  their  convictions  on  this  point;  so  essential 
did  they  deem  these  guaranties  of  civil  and  personal  liberty,  — 
that,  in  order  to  obtain  them,  they  resorted  to  measures  justifiable 
only  in  the  last  resort,  and  "  utterly  refused  the  admission  of  the 
course  of  law  among  them"  until  their  demands  were  complied 
with. 

This  course  subjected  them  to  the  disapprobation  of  the  greater 
portion  of  their  brethren  at  the  east,  and  to  the  displeasure  of  the 
General  Court.  It  will  be  for  the  reader  to  judge  whether  the 
course  of  the  county  was  too  hasty  or  too  violent ;  but  candid 
criticism  will  concede  to  the  men  who  adopted  it  the  meed  of  pure 
motives,  a  sincere  love  of  popular  liberty,  and  a  riper  trust  in  the 
people  than  had  then  been  generally  attained. 

That  we  may  better  comprehend  their  motives,  as  well  as  their 
measures,  let  us  endeavor  to  place  ourselves  where  they  stood,  and 
attempt  to  realize  as  they  did  the  evils  which  experience  had 
revealed  in  that  form  of  government  whose  re-establishment  they 
resisted. 

The  part  taken  by  the  town  and  the  county  in  the  suppression 
of  the  king's  courts  in  1774  has  already  been  related.  That  exam- 
ple, followed  throughout  the  Colony,  was  approved  by  its  results. 
Coupled  with  the  enforced  resignation  of  the  councillors  created 
by  royal  mandamus,  it  had  effectually  thwarted  the  parliamentary 
scheme  for  establishing  in  Massachusetts  a  government  in  contra- 
vention of  her  charter. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  refusal  of  Gov.  Gage  to  exercise  his 


326  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

functions  in  conformity  to  the  charter,  or  to  perform  those  duties 
incumbent  upon  him  in  order  to  give  the  General  Court  a  legal 
organization,  as  effectually  prevented  the  operation  of  government 
under  the  ancient  forms. 

In  this  lapse  of  all  authority  recognized  by  either  party,  Gov. 
Gage,  on  his  part,  resorted  to  absolute  military  rule.  The  natural 
recourse  of  the  people  was  to  those  powers  assumed  by  the  repre- 
sentatives elect,  under  the  name  of  "  The  Provincial  Congress  ; " 
and,  in  the  first  fervor  of  the  Revolution,  the  ready  assent  yielded 
to  Congressional  recommendations  gave  them  practically,  while 
that  assent  continued,  the  validity  of  law.  It  was  not,  however, 
even  then  forgotten  by  considerate  men,  that  authority  of  this 
kind  was  liable  to  be  interrupted  at  any  moment  —  it  might  be 
the  most  critical  — by  one  of  those  sudden  and  often  unaccounta- 
ble impulses  to  which  masses  of  men  are  subject. 

In  addition  to  the  defects  of  the  improvised  government,  inci- 
dent to  its  unstable  foundation,  even  for  the  purposes  of  war,  in 
which  alone  it  exercised  its  functions,  much  difficulty  was  encoun- 
tered, especially  in  the  commercial  and  maritime  districts,  on 
account  of  the  suspension  of  the  courts  of  law ;  for,  while  less 
trouble  than  was  to  have  been  expected  was  found  in  restraining 
crime  and  maintaining  public  order,  —  a  task  which  had  been  taken 
in  hand  by  the  town  authorities  and  Revolutionary  committees,  — 
the  sacredness  of  property  and  the  obligations  of  contracts  were 
seriously  impaired  in  the  absence  of  the  courts  designed  for  their 
protection.  The  attention  of  the  statesmen  in  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress was,  however,  first  drawn  to  the  insufficiency  of  the  existing 
government,  by  the  danger  arising  from  the  presence  of  a  large 
army  in  the  Province,  with  no  civil  power  to  provide  for  and  con- 
trol it. 

With  reference  to  this  solely,  the  Provincial  Congress,1  on  the 
16th  of  May,  1775,  applied  to  the  Continental  Congress  for  direc- 
tions. The  terms  in  which  the  application  was  made  are  to  be 
noted  for  our  present  purpose :  — 

"  We  are  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  laying  our  distressed  state 
before  the  representative  body  of  the  Continent,  and  humbly  hope  you  will 

1  In  the  remainder  of  this  chapter,  to  avoid  confusion  with  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, we  shall  denominate  this  body  the  Massachusetts  Convention,  as  it  was  fre- 
quently called  in  1775. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  327 

favor  us  with  your  most  explicit  advice  respecting  the  taking  up  and  exer- 
cising the  powers  of  civil  government,  which  we  think  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  salvation  of  our  country :  and  we  shall  readily  submit  to  such  a  general 
plan  as  you  may  direct  for  all  the  Colonies;  or  make  it  our  great  study  to  estab- 
lish such  a  form  of  government  here  as  shall  not  only  promote  our  advantage, 
but  the  union  and  interest  of  all  America." 

John  Adams  was  in  Congress  when  this  petition  was  presented  ; 
and  the  subject  which  it  brought  to  the  attention  of  that  body 
had,  before  he  left  home,  lain  with  great  weight  upon  his  mind  as 
the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  business  which  there  was  to  do. 

When  it  was  introduced  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  however,  he 
approached  it  in  no  coward  spirit,  but  seized  the  occasion  for  one 
of  those  bold  but  logical  harangues  by  which  he  was  paving  the 
way  to  independence.  He  entreated  the  serious  attention  of  all 
the  members,  and  of  all  the  Continent,  to  the  measures  which  the 
times  demanded.  He  declared  that  there  was  great  wisdom  in  the 
adage,  "  When  the  sword  is  drawn,  throw  away  the  scabbard;" 
"  but,"  he  added,  with  startling  emphasis,  "  whether  thrown  away 
or  not,  it  is  useless  now,  and  will  be  useless  forever." 

He  earnestly  advocated,  therefore,  the  prompt  formation  of 
State  governments  in  every  Colony ;  since  the  case  of  Massachu- 
setts, although  now  the  most  urgent,  must  soon  become  that  of  all. 
This,  he  considered,  could  only  be  accomplished  through  conven- 
tions of  delegates  chosen  by  the  people  for  this  express  purpose ; 
and  he  urged  Congress  at  once  to  recommend  to  the  several  Pro- 
vincial assemblies  the  immediate  calling  of  such  conventions,  so 
that  each  Colony  might  set  up  government  under  its  own  au- 
thority. 

But  these  were  new,  strange,  and  terrible  words  to  most  of  the 
members;  and  rejecting  this  sound  and  statesmanlike  counsel, 
whose  adoption  would  have  saved  infinite  trouble  in  the  future, 
Congress,  inharmonious  in  its  views  of  the  relations  in  which  the 
revolt  of  the  Colonies  had  placed  them  to  the  mother  country, 
postponed  the  subject  to  the  3d  of  June,  when  it  was  referred  to  a 
committee,  whose  report  was  adopted  on  the  9th.  The  committee 
had  frequent  interviews  with  the  Massachusetts  members  of  Con* 
gress,  and  doubtless  received  promptings  from  other  citizens  of  the 
Province :  but,  from  whatever  source  it  received  its  inspiration, 
the  result  was  unfortunate ;  for,  instead  of  the  general  plan  for  all 
the  Colonies  which  the  convention  had  prayed  for,  as  the  alterna- 


328  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

tive  of  being  themselves  allowed  to  form  a  constitution,  Congress 
recommended  to  Massachusetts  an  awkward  device,  based  upon  a 
legal  fiction,  which  found  its  sole  precedent  among  the  proceedings 
of  the  Long  Parliament.  This  advice,  which  was  frequently  re- 
ferred to  by  both  parties  in  the  troubles  which  ensued  in  Berkshire, 
was  as  follows :  — 

IN  CONGRESS,  Friday,  June  9, 1775. 

"Resolved,  That  no  obedience  being  due  to  the  act  of  parliament  for 
altering  the  charter  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  nor  to  a  governor 
and  lieutenant-governor  who  will  not  observe  the  directions  of,  but  endeavor 
to  subvert,  the  charter,  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  absent,  and  their  offices  vacant. 

"  And  as  there  is  no  Council  there,  and  the  inconveniences  arising  from 
the  suspension  of  the  powers  of  government  are  intolerable,  especially  at  a 
time  when  Gen.  Gage  hath  actually  levied  war,  and  is  carrying  on  hostilities 
against  his  Majesty's  peaceful  and  loyal  subjects  in  that  Colony ;  that  in 
older  to  conform,  as  near  es  may  be,  to  the  spirit  and  substance  of  the  char- 
ter, it  is  recommended  to  the  Provincial  Congress  to  write  letters  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  several  places  which  are  entitled  to  representation  in 
Assembly,  requesting  them  to  choose  such  representatives;  and  that  the 
Assembly,  when  chosen,  should  elect  councillors  ;  which  Assembly  and  Coun- 
cil should  exercise  the  powers  of  government  until  a  governor  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's appointment  will  consent  to  govern  the  Colony  according  to  its 
charter." 

It  will  be  seen,  that,  so  far  from  being  explicit,  this  advice  limited 
the  duration  of  the  temporary  government  to  be  set  up  under  it 
by  an  event  destined  never  to  happen ;  and  showed  so  little  appre- 
ciation of  the  real  condition  of  the  country,  that  it  did  not  contem- 
plate the  possibility  of  independence,  which  was  declared  within 
little  more  than  a  year. 

Two  days  after  the  passage  of  this  resolution,  the  Massachusetts 
Convention,  not  having  yet  received  information  of  it,  adopted  a 
second  address  to  Congress ;  meeting  on  Sunday  for  that  purpose, 
and  feeling  the  difficulties  of  their  situation  to  be  so  grievous,  that 
they  sent  a  special  messenger  to  Philadelphia,  with  an  earnest  en- 
treaty that  he  should  be  despatched  on  his  return  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible with  the  advice  which  "the  pressing  nature  of  their 
distresses"  rendered  it  necessary  should  be  "immediate." 

There  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  tone  of  this  address 
and  that  of  its  predecessor  in  May ;  the  first  being  based  upon  the 
presence  of  a  single  great  public  danger,  the  second  dwelling 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  329 

chiefly  upon  the  insecurity  of  internal  order,  and  the  disturbance 
of  business  relations. 

The  Convention  now  forcibly  represented,  that,  in  many  parts  of 
the  Province,  alarming  symptoms  had  appeared  of  a  diminishing 
regard  for  the  sacred  rights  of  property ;  and  that,  although  fewer 
enormities  and  breaches  of  the  peace  had  occurred  than  it  was 
natural  to  anticipate,  yet  there  was  extreme  difficulty  found  in 
maintaining  public  order. 

"  The  situation  of  no  people  or  colony,"  it  goes  on  to  assert, 
"  ever  rendered  it  more  necessary  that  the  full  powers  of  civil 
government  should  be  exercised,  than  does  the  present  state  and 
situation  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay."  Bitter  complaint 
is  made,  that,  "chiefly  from  the  want  of  a  settled  civil  polity,  every 
undertaking  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  life,  and  still  more 
of  property,  is  subject  to  innumerable  delays,  embarrassments, 
disappointments,  and  obstructions ;  while  whatever  is  accomplished 
in  this  direction  is  effected  in  the  most  expensive  manner :  so  that, 
in  times  which  require  the  most  rigid  economy,  it  is  impossible  to 
exercise  it." 

This  piteous  appeal  was  perhaps  colored  by  the  hypochondria 
with  which  Major  Hawley,  the  chairman  of  the  conftnittee  report- 
ing it,  was  afflicted,  and  which  soon  after  increased  to  such  a 
degree  as  to  compel  the  retirement  of  that  ablest  of  the  patriotic 
leaders  from  the  public  councils.  The  melancholy  of  so  influential 
a  member  could  hardly  have  failed  to  infect  the  whole  convention. 
Nevertheless,  something  very  like  the  condition  of  affairs  depicted 
did  exist. 

Little,  therefore,  as  the  scheme  of  government  proposed  by  Con- 
gress comported  with  the  desire  of  Massachusetts  as  expressed  in 
her  first  application,  the  temper  of  the  Convention,  when  the  re- 
sponse arrived,  was  in  its  favor. 

Accordingly,  on  the  19th  of  June,  circular  letters  were  addressed 
to  the  several  towns,  requesting  them  to  elect  representatives  to  a 
Great  and  General  Court,  or  assembly,  to  be  held  at  Watertown  on 
the  19th  of  July.  With  regard  to  the  two  measures,  —  the  adop- 
tion of  a  new  form  of  government,  as  proposed  by  the  convention  in 
May,  and  the  travesty  of  the  charter  recommended  by  Congress  in 
June,  —  the  people  of  the  eastern  and  western  counties,  says  Sam 
Adams,  who  himself  favored  the  charter,  appeared  to  differ ; * 

1  Frothingham's  Warren,  p.  377. 


330  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

meaning,  of  course,  that  the  predominant  sentiment  of  those  sec- 
tions differed,  for  there  was  a  considerable  majority  in  each  section 
which  agreed  upon  this  point  with  the  minority  in  the  other. 
There  was  much  reluctance,  almost  everywhere,  to  accept  the  Con- 
gressional scheme ;  but  the  people  of  Berkshire  and  Hampshire 
had  become  reconciled  in  a  far  less  degree  than  their  eastern  fellow- 
citizens  to  the  losses  which  Massachusetts  liberties  sustained  in 
the  passage  from  a  colonial  to  a  provincial  charter.  That  William 
of  "  glorious  memory  "  had  taken  advantage  of  the  wrong  done 
by  his  predecessor  of  infamous  story  to  rob  the  most  devoted  of 
Whig  Colonies  of  her  ancient  privileges,  was  bitterly  remembered 
and  brooded  over  by  men  like  the  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  until  it  lacked 
little  to  render  them  eager  to  forswear  all  kings  forever.  They 
fretted  under  the  evils  which  they  justly  ascribed  to  the  innovations 
of  the  Provincial  charter;  hated  cordially  the  aristocratic  system 
which  had  sprung  up  under  it ;  and,  while  they  clung  to  what 
privileges  it  left  them,  they  considered  these  always  endangered 
until  the  choice  of  their  own  governor  should  be  restored  to  the 
people,  and  a  way  thus  prepared  for  further  reforms.  From  the 
first  uprising  against  the  Regulating  Acts,  the  most  thoughtful  of 
the  Berkshire  patriots  looked  to  the  restoration  of  the  old  and  not 
of  the  new  charter,  as  the  ultimatum  to  be  demanded  of  Great 
Britain;  and  that  feeling  strengthened  and  accommodated  itself  to. 

7  O  O 

the  changing  shapes  of  political  affairs  as  the  struggle  went  on, 
and  day  by  day  the  deformities  of  King  William's  charter  were 
demonstrated  and  denounced. 

But,  in  June,  Mr.  Adams,  writing  from  Philadelphia,  represented 
to  Dr.  Warren  that  there  was  jealousy  in  the  minds  of  some  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  that  Massachusetts  aimed  at  total  independency, 
not  only  of  the  mother  country,  but  of  the  other  Colonies  also ;  and 
that,  as  her  people  were  hardy  and  brave,  they  would  in  time  over- 
run them  all.  These  representatives  privately  assured  Mr.  Adams, 
that  "their  constituents  would  openly  support  Massachusetts,  if 
her  people  were  driven  by  necessity  to  defend  their  lives  or 
liberties ;  but  doubted  whether  they  would  ever  be  persuaded  to 
think  it  necessary  for  them  to  set  up  another  form  of  government." 
Mr.  Adams,  therefore,  advised  the  adoption  of  the  scheme  devised 
in  Congress,  in  order  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  the  appearance  of 
innovation,  and  thus  preserve  the  unity  among  the  Colonies  which 
was  so  essential.1 

1  Frothingham's  "Warren,  p.  378. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  331 

The  people  of  Western  Massachusetts  were  neither  self-willed 
nor  opinionated ;  and  this  reasoning,  which  commended  itself  to 
their  good  sense,  prevailed  while  the  condition  of  affairs  which 
gave  it  cogency  continued.  If,  as  is  probable,  acceptance  of  the 
proposed  plan  was  urged  with  the  weight  of  Mr.  Adams's  personal 
influence,  its  effect  was  greatly  increased ;  for,  of  all  the  Boston 
patriots,  Sam  Adams,  in  spite  of  differing  opinions  on  the  pres- 
ent point,  was  the  leader  most  nearly  after  the  heart  of  the 
mountain-men. 

There  was  little,  therefore,  if  any,  opposition  to  the  choice  of 
representatives  to  the  General  Court,  in  response  to  the  circular 
letter  of  June.  Pittsfield  elected  two,  —  Capts.  Charles  Goodrich 
and  Israel  Dickinson,  —  one  of  whom  only  was  to  serve  at  a  time. 

The  conditions  which  induced  this  submission  were  but  of  brief 
duration.  During  the  summer  of  1775,  the  minority,  larger,  —  and 
growing  with  more  rapidity  than  it  dared  believe,  —  longing  for 
independence,  advanced  towards  it  by  gradual  and  concealed  ap- 
proaches. 

The  theory  of  the  day  was,  that  an  accommodation  with  Great 
Britain  would  be  obtained  at  so  early  a  date,  that  it  was  worth  no 
man's  while  to  concern  himself  greatly  about  the  abstract  princi- 
ples of  the  government  which  should  prevail  in  the  interim. 
Even  those  who  knew  this  theory  false  were  often  forced  to  accept 
it  as  the  base  from  which,  by  the  aid  of  favoring  circumstances,  to 
raise  themselves  to  a  higher  plane. 

But  something  very  different  from  what  appeared  upon  the 
surface  was  lurking  beneath ;  and,  as  events  crowded  upon  each 
other,  opinions  and  sentiments  engendered  in  the  apt  soil  of  New 
England  ripened  fast  under  the  fervid  sun  of  Revolution. 

Their  influence  was  not  unfelt  in  Congress ;  so  that  when,  early 
in  November,  advice  was  to  be  given  to  New  Hampshire  and 
South  Carolina  with  regard  to  assuming  the  powers  of  civil 
government,  it  was  couched  in  the  following  terms,  —  the  language 
used  to  the  two  Colonies  being  of  the  same  import :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
Hampshire  to  call  a  full  and  free  representation  of  the  people,  and  that  the 
representatives  establish  such  a.  form  of  government  as,  in  their  judgment, 
will  best  produce  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  most  effectually  secure 
peace  and  good  order  in  the  Province  during  the  continuance  of  the  present 
dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies." 


332  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

This  was  a  great  advance  since  June.  John  Adams,  who  looked 
upon  it  as  the  progress  of  the  index  upon  the  broad  dial  of  national 
affairs,  congratulated  himself  upon  a  triumph ;  although  of  the 
three  phrases,  "Colonies,"  "Province,"  and  "Mother  Country," 
which  "  by  this  time  he  had  come  mortally  to  hate,"  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  eliminating  only  the  last  from  the  report. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  plan  recommended  to  her  sister  Colonies, 
so  nearly  identical  with  that  which  she  had  asked  for  herself,  but 
so  widely  variant  from  that  which  she  had  received,  did  not  fail 
to  conspire,  with  defects  brought  to  light  in  the  practical  working 
of  the  government  set  up  there,  to  provoke  feeling  against  the  new 
order  of  things;  while,  imbittering  and  giving  direction  to  the 
opposition,  memories  of  the  old  charter  history,  which  the  turmoil 
of  recent  events  had  obscured,  were  revived. 

Among  the  reasons  which  suggested  the  peculiar  Congressional 
device  recommended  to  Massachusetts  was  the  fact  that  she  was 
one  of  the  only  three  Colonies  which  possessed  royal  charters,  con- 
ferring and  limiting  their  powers  of  self-government,  and  prescrib- 
ing the  mode  of  their  exercise ;  while  the  privileges  of  the  other 
Provinces,  obtained  by  prescription,  or  at  best  based  upon  what 
they  claimed  to  be  the  indefeasible  rights  of  Englishmen,  were,  in 
theory  at  least,  more  obscure  and  of  less  authority. 

The  constitutions  of  these  latter  had,  however,  taken  form 
under  successive  legislatures,  and  been  confirmed  in  the  habits 
of  thought  of  their  peoples,  until  practically  Massachusetts  differed 
less  from  Virginia  than  she  did  from  Connecticut. 

The  charters  which  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island  received  from  Charles  the  First,  under  the  broad  seal  of 
England,  invested  all  alike,  as  to  their  internal  affairs,  with  almost 
all  the  rights  of  independent  States.  These  rights  had  been 
retained  intact  by  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut ;  so  that,  when 
the  Revolution  came,  it  found  their  governments  harmonious  in 
all  their  departments,  and  prepared  to  throw  off  what  little  re- 
mained of  foreign  authority,  without  producing  that  confusion 
which  ensued  in  Massachusetts. 

The  charter  of  the  latter  Colony,  annulled  in  the  reign  of  the 
second  Charles  by  the  decree  of  a  servile  tribunal,  had,  after  an 
interval  of  seven  years,  been  replaced  in  1692  by  a  substitute 
obtained  from  William  and  Mary,  not  under  the  great  but  the 
privy  seal.  Earnest  entreaty  made  to  a  Whig  prince  for  the  res- 


HISTOKY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  333 

titution  of  ancient  privileges  violently  wrested  from  the  Colony 
for  her  adherence  to  Whig  principles  availed  little  ;  and  the  new 
instrument  fell  so  far  short  of  the  old,  that  the  style  of  Mas- 
sachusetts was,  with  just  significance,  changed  from  that  of  a 
colony  to  that  of  a  province.  Most  essential  of  the  losses  sus- 
tained by  the  people  in  these  transactions  was  the  transfer  from 
them  to  the  king  of  the  appointment  of  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  secretary ;  of  whom  the  first  was  invested  with  great 
powers,  including  the  right  to  prorogue  or  dissolve  the  General 
Court,  and  to  interpose  a  negative,  not  only  to  their  ordinary  legis- 
lative acts,  but  to  the  choice  by  the  representatives  of  councillors, 
and  even  of  their  own  speaker.  All  officers  of  the  militia  and 
the  judiciary  were  also  to  be  appointed  by  him  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Council. 

Thus  the  king,  through  his  deputy,  became  the  chief  fountain 
of  official  honors  and  emoluments ;  and  the  places  in  his  gift  were 
sedulously  used  to  attach  the  more  substantial  citizens  to  the  party 
of  the  government. 

When  the  decisive  test  came,  the  success  of  these  seductive  in- 
fluences, although  not  inconsiderable,  proved  to  be  far  short  of 
what  the  royalist  leaders  had  persuaded  themselves  to  expect. 
An  incidental  result  had,  however,  grown  out  of  their  system 
of  politics  which  contributed  largely  to  incite  "the  Berkshire 
troubles."  In  place  of  the  old  colonial  "  magistracy,"  the  foun- 
dations had  been  very  broadly  laid  for  a  new  provincial  aristocracy 
which  was  already  burdensome  to  the  people.  Whether  it  was 
intrinsically  more  so  than  its  Puritan  predecessor,  may  be  safely 
doubted ;  but,  as  a  new  evil,  —  and  one  incident  to  the  subver- 
sion of  their  cherished  charter,  —  it  was  hated  as  the  grim  old 
"  magistracy  "  never  had  been.  To  most  of  the  gentry  of  this 
class,  from  his  honor  the  lieutenant-governor  down  to  the  village 
justice  not  of  the  quorum,  the  Revolutionary  disturbances  were 
extremely  unwelcome  and  vexatious :  the  choice  between  king 
and  country  was  hard  to  make,  especially  so  long  as  the  patriots 
professed  to  contend  only  for  the  preservation  of  the  defeptive 
charter  of  William ;  a  contest  in  which,  however  victory  might 
nominally  declare  itself,  the  fruits  of  victory  were  sure  to  remain 
in  the  hands  of  the  king's  governor,  and  be  the  spoil  of  the  king's 
supporters. 

To    ambitious   country  gentlemen    of   wealth    and    standing, 


334  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  dignities  in  the  royal  governor's  keeping  were  tempting 
morsels  in  comparison  with  the  poor  seat  in  the  trammelled  legis- 
lature, or  at  the  town  council-board,  which  was  the  best  the  people 
had  to  offer. 

Still,  when  the  hour  came  in  which  all  men  were  compelled  to 
take  sides,  the  greater  portion  of  the  tempted  class,  resisting  the 
allurements  which  had  been  spread  for  them,  adhered  more  or  less 
promptly,  and  with  differing  degrees  of  zeal,  to  the  cause  of  their 
country ;  and  their  familiarity  with  public  business,  as  well  as 
other  reasons,  led  to  the  election  of  many  of  their  number  to  the 
Provincial  Congresses  and  to  the  General  Court  of  1775. 

The  selection  of  men  of  this  class  was  undoubtedly 'wise  :  but  it 
was  not  strange,  that,  upon  the  first  occasion,  suspicion  should 
arise,  among  their  less  favored  compatriots,  of  a  design  on  their 
part  to  revive  and  perpetuate,  under  the  new  form  of  govern- 
ment, a  system  to  which  they  owed  so  much  under  the  old  ;  nor 
was  it  unnatural,  that  whatever,  short  of  popular  election,  was 
made  the  fountain  of  office  should  be  the  object  of  bitter  jealousy. 

The  rule  established  under  the  advice  of  Congress  owed  its 
first  opposition  to  the  belief,  that,  in  making  selections  for  office, 
the  General  Court  grossly  favored  its  members  and  their  friends, 
to  the  neglect  of  men  at  least  equally  meritorious.  A  Berkshire 
Convention,  reciting  the  history  of  the  county  troubles,  declared 
that  it  was  the  practice  for  the  members  to  be  called  upon  by 
counties  "  to  make  nominations  in  the  civil  and  military  line,  who 
were  then  chosen  by  the  House,  and  commissioned  by  the  Council, 
in  which  effectual  care  was  taken  that  those  present  should  be  in 
the  nomination ; "  l  "  which  procedure,"  continues  the  address, 
"  roused  our  attention,  that  such  persons  should  nominate  and  vote 
for  themselves,  or  be  elected  in  a  form  that  the  charter  knew 
nothing  of. " 

To  the  Berkshire  fathers  this  greediness  of  office  seemed  the 
result  of  a  deliberate  design  to  foist  one  of  the  worst  features  of 
the  old  government  upon  the  new ;  or,  at  the  best,  to  be  the 
inevitable  fruit  of  a  political  system  fatally  defective,  and  which, 
it  now  began  to  be  feared,  there  was  no  intention  to  limit  in 
duration. 

!.0f  the  two  representatives  from  Pittsfield,  Capt.  Goodrich  secured  the  place 
of  a  justice  of  the  sessions;  Capt.  Israel  Dickinson  was  made  high  sheriff  of  the 
county.  Every  member  of  the  House  from  Berkshire  obtained  civil  office. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  335 

But,  although  opposition  to  the  new  rule  was  first  aroused  by  a 
single  grievance,  it  soon  assumed  a  broader  and  more  radical  char- 
acter ;  rising  first  to  insist  that  a  constitution  and  bill  of  rights 
were  indispensable  prerequisites  to  any  government,  and  then  to 
advise,  as  with  authoiity,  what  principles  should  be  incorporated 
in  the  fundamental  law.  As  the  anticipations  of  independence 
strengthened,  what  ideas  should  lie  at  the  foundations  of  the  new 
States  —  when  the  Colonies  should  assume  that  rank  —  became 
the  subject  of  earnest  and  often  of  profound  consideration,  not  only 
in  legislative  halls,  but  in  country  villages ;  and  not  less  so  were 
the  constitutional  provisions  by  which  vitality  could  best  be  given 
to  those  ideas.  We  may  be  sure  that  rarely  anywhere  were  these 
subjects  earlier  or.  more  intelligently  discussed  than  in  the  little 
meetiug-house  under  the  Pittsfield  elm. 

Certain  great  maxims,  of  undisputed  authority,  had  been  trans- 
mitted by  the  fathers  of  English  freedom;  a  few  safeguards  of 
personal  liberty  had  acquired  traditional  sanctity ;  the  idea  of  a 
republic  was  dear  to  all  hearts,  even  in  colonies  planted  by 
cavaliers ;  but  the  statesmen  of  America  could  look  nowhere  for 
an  example  of  republican  government  exactly  adapted  to  their 
need. 

Studies  for  the  work  before  them  were  abundant :  in  the  history 
of  the  ancient  republics,  and  those  of  the  middle  ages;  in  the 
example  of  England  under  king  and  Commonwealth  ;  and,  best  of 
all,  in  their  own  colonial  experience.  But  model  there  was  none. 
Years  of  experiment  and  devoted  study,  by  the  ablest  and  purest 
statesmen  the  world  ever  saw,  elapsed  before,  from  the  lessons  of 
history  and  the  teachings  of  experience,  an  approach  to  perfection 
was  obtained  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  —  years  even  before 
that  scarcely  less  noble  work,  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts, 
was  wrought  out,  chiefly  from  the  broad  learning  of  John  Adams. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  country  was  flooded  with  tracts  upon  the 
structure  of  government.1  The  works  of  political  essayists  be- 

1  Of  these  the  most  popular  was  the  essay  of  Thomas  Paine,  issued  in  1775, 
in  which  that  able  although  afterwards  infamous  author  presented  in  a  concise 
form,  and  clear,  terse,  and  vigorous  language,  the  arguments  in  favor  of  independ- 
ence which  had  been  used  in  the  secret  sessions  of  Congress  and  the  private  con- 
sultations of  the  Continental  leaders.  The  work  was  admirably  fitted  to  reach 
and  influence  the  public  mind,  and  its  effect  was  widely  felt.  In  the  same  tract 
had  been  included,  with  the  advocacy  of  independence,  certain  loose  but  plausible 
theories  of  government,  inculcated  in  the  same  winning  style. 


336  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

came  popular  reading;  and  some  of  them, — the  disquisitions  of 
James  Burgh  and  Mrs.  McCauley  in  particular,  —  of  a  higher  tone 
than  that  of  Paine,  had  many  readers;  while  a  host  of  native 
writers,  sometimes  of  great  ability,  communicated  their  views 
through  the  periodical  press. 

Thus,  while  one  class  of  minds  was  patiently  and  laboriously 
seeking  material  for  the  new  structure  in  the  treasured  experience 
of  the  past,  another  was  seizing  eagerly  upon  whatever  in  the  more 
recent  and  popular  essayists  seemed  sustained  by  facts  and  adapted 
to  the  desired  end.  It  was  the  age  of  free  thinking  in  political 
creeds,  and  of  a  chaos  out  of  which  something  very  nearly  perfect 
at  last  crystallized.  The  agitation  and  new  thought  developed  by 
the  writers  of  the  day  were  not  less  indispensable  to  the  grand 
result  than  were  the  researches  of  more  scholarly  statesmen. 
Between  the  two  classes  indicated,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  occupied  an 
intermediate  position ;  although  his  natural  impulsiveness,  as  well 
as  other  influences,  led  him  generally  to  adopt  the  most  advanced 
theory  of  human  rights.  A  republican  by  birth  and  education,  he 
was  an  ardent  one  by  temperament.  Inheriting  a  love  for  the 
political  as  well  as  the  religious  doctrines  of  the  Puritans,  he  had 
been  confirmed  in  them  by  the  study  of  the  best  writers  of  that 
school,  and,  in  the  history  of  his  theological  denomination,  had 
found  the  principles  of  his  party  so  intimately  interwoven  with  the 
articles  of  his  creed,  that  they  seemed  almost  equally  a  part  of  his 
religion.  A  disposition  of  mind  naturally  earnest  had  thus  been 
trained  in  the  direction  of  indignant  protest  against  political 
wrong  and  oppi'ession ;  and  the  desire  for.  the  purest  possible  form 
of  government,  which  characterized  the  general  mind  of  that  era, 
became  with  him  a  passion. 

The  abrogation  of  the  ancient  charter  by  "that  popish  tyrant, 
Charles  II.,"  had  long  been  a  subject  of  bitter  and  almost  morbid 
contemplation  with  him ;  and  while  he  admitted  the  instrument 
obtained  from  "  King  William  of  glorious  memory  "  to  be  "  of  great 
value  for  the  preservation  of  tolerable  order,"  it  was  only  "  till  we 
had  grown  to  our  present  strength  to  seek  that  by  force  of  arms 
which  was  then  unjustly  denied  us." 

When  the  few  chartered  privileges  which  the  Colony  retained 
were  attacked  by  Parliament,  we  found  him  among  the  first  to 
counsel  resistance ;  and  now,  when  it  was  proposed  to  restore  the 
civil  government  —  suspended  in  1774  —  upon  the  basis  of  "the 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  337 

defective  and  discordant  charter  "  of  King  William,  he  became,  to 
use  the  phrase  employed  both  by  himself  and  his  enemies,  "restless 
in  his  endeavors  "  to  prevent  it. 

His  mind  thus  busy  with  the  political  events  of  the  day,  Mr. 
Allen  read  diligently  the  current  writers  who  treated  upon  them, 
and  adopted  the  opinions  of  that  school  which  enunciated  the 
doctrines  afterwards,  in  a  more  perfect  form,  championed  by 
Thomas  Jefferson.  In  these  he  conceived  that  he  found  the  legiti- 

O 

mate  democratic  development  of  republican  principles. 

Such  were  the  characteristics  and  views  which  made  the  Pitts- 
field  minister  the  founder  and  leader  of  that  party  in  Berkshire 
which,  to  the  end,  successfully  resisted  the  restoration  in  that 
county  of  civil  government  under  the  strange  device  which  the 
Continental  Congress  had  evolved  from  the  Provincial  charter. 

The  fundamental  dogma  of  this  party  was,  that  political  power 
can  only  rightfully  be  derived  from  the  express  consent  of  the  peo- 
ple; that  the  charter  government  —  itself  but  a  mitigated  usurpa- 
tion —  having  been  abrogated,  the  Province  relapsed  into  a  state 
of  nature,  from  which  it  could  rightly  emerge  only  through  the 
establishment  of  a  constitution  and  bill  of  rights  by  the  free  vote 
of  a  majority  of  the  people ;  that,  antecedent  to  this,  the  only 
authority  which  ought  to  be  submitted  to  should  be,  from  its 
purely  advisory  character,  incapable  of  making  itself  permanent. 

Against  those  who  favored  the  postponement  of  a  new  constitu- 
tion until  the  return  of  peace,  they  urged  that  such  a  government 
as  was  proposed,  ad  interim,  "  if  once  allowed  to  take  place,  would 
be  found  very  difficult  to  shake  off  ever  after."  Against  the  argiv 
ment  that  the  Continental  Congress  had  proposed  the  obnoxious 
system,  they  maintained  that  Congress  could  not  have  intended  to 
deprive  Massachusetts  of  the  right  of  framing  a  constitution  for  her- 
self; and  that,  if  it  had  such  a  design,  it  was  entitled  to  no  respect. 
Indeed,  admitting  that  Congress  in  May  intended  to  restrain  the 
Colony  from  taking  a  step  which  too  plainly  betrayed  the  purpose 
of  ultimate  independence,  that  restraint  was  withdrawn  in  Novem- 
ber ;  and  the  advice  from  which  it  was  implied  became  every  day 
more  inapplicable  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  Province. 

In  no  view  of  the  case  could  the  Berkshire  constitutionalists 
regard  the  new  order  of  things  as  rightful.  But  a  total  renunci- 
ation of  all  connection  with  the  powers  instituted  at  Boston  would 
have  only  been  fraught  with  evil  to  both  parties,  and  to  the  good 

22 


338  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

cause  which  both  had  at  heart.  The  device  hit  upon  in  this 
dilemma  was  to  refuse  obedience  to  a  portion  of  the  acts  of  the 
General  Court,  thus  conceding  to  it  only  that  advisory  authority 
which  had  been  accorded  to  the  Provincial  Congress. 

It  might  reasonably  have  been  argued,  indeed,  that  neither  the 
General  nor  Provincial  Congress,  having  other  than  advisory 
authority,  could  invest  another  assembly  with  higher  legislative 
powers  than  those  with  which  they  were  themselves  clothed  ;  and 
that  the  people,  in  choosing  representatives  on  their  advice, 
did  not  ipso  facto  adopt  that  advice  as  the  Constitution  of  the 
Province,  much  less  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Commonwealth 
when  it  became  an  independent  State.  It  was  as  competent, 
surely,  for  the  Berkshire  committees  to  assume  that  the  Congresses 
could  not  have  intended  to  exercise  powers  which  had  not  been 
delegated  to  them,  as  for  those  assemblies  to  assume  from  the 
recusant  position  of  Gage  a  vacancy  in  the  gubernatorial  office. 

In  selecting  that  department  of  government  whose  obstruction 
would  sufficiently  arrest  attention  at  Boston,  while  it  would  least 
embarrass  the  State  in  its  operations  against  the  enemy,  and  the  peo- 
ple in  their  efforts  to  obtain  a  constitution,  the  judiciary  and  civil 
magistracy  suggested  itself.  Policy  and  feeling  alike  prompted  a 
zealous  response  to  every  demand  made  by  the  Military  Board ;  and 
the  towns  could  not  well  refuse  to  send  representatives  to  the 
General  Court,  which,  however  defective  in  its  constitution,  they 
were  compelled  to  acknowledge  as  the  only  power  which  could 
carry  on  the  war,  or  take  the  initiative  in  establishing  government 
upon  a  rightful  basis.  The  judiciary  and  the  magistracy  seemed 
thus  the  only  department  of  the  State  which  could  at  all  be  dis- 
pensed with  ;  as  it  was  also  that  whose  place,  for  its  most  urgent 
purposes,  could  most  readily  be  supplied  by  the  municipal  organi- 
zations. In  fact,  on  the  26th  of  December,  1775,  a  Pittsfield  town- 
meeting  represented  to  the  General  Court,  that,  for  the  preceding 
eighteen  months,  —  counting  from  the  May  term  at  Great  Barring- 
ton  in  1774,  which  was  the  last  court  actually  held,  —  "  The  people 
of  the  county,  under  the  lenient  and  efficient  rule  of  their  several 
committees,  and  in  the  most  vigorous  and  unintermitted  exertions 
in  the  country's  cause,  had  lived  together  in  the  greatest  love,  peace, 
safety,  liberty,  happiness,  and  good  order,  except  the  disorders  and 
dissensions  occasioned  by  the  Tories." 

The  suppression  of  the  courts  had  thus  attained  its  object  in  one 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  339 

instance,  not  only  with  no  intolerable  evils,  but,  as  was  claimed, 
with -positive  advantage  to  the  happiness  of  the  people.  The  town 
took  care  to  disclaim  any  expectation  that  such  a  paradoxical  para- 
dise could  long  continue,  and  we  may  well  question  the  perfect 
fairness  of  the  picture  ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people  felt  themselves  rather  better  off  without  such 
a  judicial  system  as  had  existed  under  the  Provincial  rule  than 
they  would  be  with  it. 

Precedent  sustained  a  resort  to  measures  which  had  been  so  well 
tested  and  approved ;  and  they  were  the  more  readily  adopted  as 
the  chief  grievance  of  which  the  people  complained,  under  the  old 
administration  of  the  charter,  had  been  the  excessive  cost  of  exe- 
cuting the  laws ;  heavy  fee-tables  being  established,  as  was  alleged, 
in  order  to  enrich  swarms  of  magistrates  and  lawyers. 

In  truth,  a  more  cumbrous  judicial  system  could  hardly  have 
been  devised  than  was  inflicted  upon  this  poor  and  scantily-peopled 
county,  in  common  with  the  other  shires  of  the  Province ;  and 
resistance  to  its  re-imposition,  as  a  burden  too  grievous  to  be 
borne,  had  been  resolved  before  the  abstract  principles  which 
justified  that  resistance  had  been  much  considered  by  the  masses. 

There  were  held  annually  four  terms  each  of  the  General  Ses- 
sions of  the  Peace  and  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
The  Sessions  had  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
conservation  of  the  peace,  and  in  all  criminal  cases  where  the 
punishment  did  not  extend  to  deprivation  of  life  or  limb  or  to 
banishment ;  and  also  exercised  the  powers  now  held  by  the 
board  of  county  commissioners. 

The  Court  of  Common  Pleas  had  cognizance  of  all  civil  causes 
triable  at  the  common  law,  when  the  matters  in  dispute  exceeded 
the  value  of  forty  shillings. 

From  both  the  Common  Pleas  and  the  Sessions  an  appeal  lay  to 
the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature.  This  latter  court  had  original 
jurisdiction  in  all  cases  which  extended  to  deprivation  of  life  or 
limb  or  to  banishment ;  which  removed  from  the  county  courts 
a  large  class  of  cases  now  tried  by  them.  Each  county  had  its 
own  Common  Pleas  bench,  which  consisted  in  Berkshire  of  a  chief 
Justice  and  three  associates.  And  these,  with  the  other  justices 
of  the  peace  in  the  county,  numbering  when  the  Revolution 
commenced  about  a  dozen,  formed  the  Court  of  General  Ses- 
sions. Each  court  had  its  clerk  and  other  officials.  This  clumsy 


340  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

organization  performed  the  duties,  which,  in  the  present  vastly 
more  populous  and  wealthy  county,  devolve  upon  the  commissioners 
and  a  single  judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 

Cases  where  a  less  sum  than  forty  shillings  was  involved,  and 
which  did  not  affect  the  title  of  real  estate,  were  cognizable  by  a 
single  justice,  as  also  were  trivial  misdemeanors.  In  civil  cases, 
an  appeal  lay  to  the  Common  Pleas ;  in  criminal,  to  the  General 
Sessions :  and  the  power  of  the  magistrate  in  inflicting  punishment 
was  limited  to  confinement  in  the  cage  or  the  stocks  for  three  hours, 
imprisonment  for  twenty-four,  whipping  not  to  exceed  ten  stripes, 
or  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings,  for  which  sum  either  of  the  other 
punishments  might  be  commuted,  at  the  option  of  the  offender. 
The  salaries  of  the  judges  individually  were  not  large,  but  in  the 
aggregate  they  were  considerable ;  and  the  pay  of  the  justices  of 
the  peace  and  of  the  Sessions,  depending  upon  fees,  was  a  more 
odious  burden  still.  Another  peculiarity,  not  impertinent  to 
this  discussion,  may  be  enumerated:  the  judges  were  rarely  men 
educated  to  the  law.  Before  the  Revolution,  only  four  lawyers  sat 
even  upon  the  supreme  bench  of  Massachusetts.  The  judgeships 
were  held  as  rewards  for  political  favorites  in  all  walks  of  life. 

A  judicial  system  constituted  like  this  was  of  necessity  costly, 
and  the  fees  proportionately  large.  It  was  believed  to  be  intention- 
ally thus  framed,  in  order  that  as  many  as  possible  of  the  favored 
class  might  fatten  upon  the  spoils  of  the  poor  and  the  unfortunate. 
The  privilege  of  confessing  judgment  to  avoid  suit  before  a  single 
magistrate,  which  had  been  earnestly  sought,  was  thought  to  be 
denied  for  the  same  reason ;  and  the  presence  of  two  magistrates 
and  the  clerk  of  a  court  of  record  was  required  for  this  very  simple 
act.  "Whatever  injustice  there  may  have  been  in  these  jealousies, 
we  may  be  sure  that  the  judicial  system  of  the  Province  was 
looked  upon  much  more  complacently  by  the  lawyers  and  the  mob 
of  gentlemen  who  filled  the  bench  than  by  the  heavily-taxed  par- 
ties to  suits. 

All  this,  together  with  the  injudicious  harshness  almost  univer- 
sally exercised  towards  poor  debtors,  and  in  the  punishment  of  the 
trivial  misdemeanors  of  the  lower  classes,  contributed  to  diminish, 
in  no  small  degree,  that  filial  reverence  which  should  surround 
the  tribunals  of  justice.  It  will  serve  also  to  explain  what  Mr. 
Allen  meant  in  saying  that  "our  fellow-citizens  in  this  county 
have  been  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron." 


HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  341 

Evils  like  these  in  a  system  of  law  could  not  fail  to  deprave 
even  the  vicious  and  impoverish  the  poor.  To  thoughtful  observ- 
ers, and  especially  to  those  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  felt  them- 
selves commissioned  to  watch  over  the  lowly  and  the  miserable, 
these  results  were  painfully  apparent ;  and  it  was  the  hope  of  men 
with  no  desire,  by  shielding  the  wrong-doer,  to  impair  the  security 
of  person  or  property,  that  the  not  intolerable  consequences  of  a 
total  suspension  of  the  courts  might  be  endured  until,  under  a 
more  equitable  constitution,  a  system  better  adapted  to  attain  the 
ends  of  justice  should  be  organized. 

But,  while  divers  reasons  thus  directed  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  Berkshire  to  a  single  branch  of  government  as  that  which  ought 
to  be  suppressed,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  right  to  suppress 
any  was  based  upon  the  absence  of  what  was  held  essential  to  all 
legitimate  rule,  —  establishment  by  an  unmistakable  expression  of 
the  popular  consent.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten,  that  individual 
abuses  were  not  attacked,  primarily,  to  secure  their  own  removal, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  a  faulty  whole,  of  which  they 
were  the  most  vulnerable  parts.  The  town-meetings  and  county- 
conventions,  while  their  action  was  at  first  directed  to  the  redress 
of  special  grievances  by  specific  means,  at  the  very  outset  indicated 
the  great  principle  from  which  their  proceedings  took  rise,  and  con- 
tinued to  enunciate  it  with  ever  fuller  emphasis  and  clearer  utter- 
ance. In  their  minds,  the  ideas  of  national  independence  and  of 
constitutional  liberty  advanced  with  equal  step. 

Among  the  Berkshire  patriots,  the  belief  became  very  early  fixed 
that  the  British  dominion  over  the  Colony  would  never  be  re- 
stored ;  and  it  alarmed  them  that  no  disposition  was  shown  by  the 
General  Court  to  ascertain  the  will  of  its  constituents  with  regard 
to  a  new  constitution.  They  deemed  it  evidence  of  a  design  to 
usurp  power,  that  after  the  circumstances  which  might  have  been 
held  by  some  to  justify  the  advice  given  by  Congress  had  ceased 
to  exist,  and  even  after  that  advice  had  been  practically  revoked, 
a  determination  was  manifest  at  Boston  to  still  build  upon  this 
undermined  foundation,  and  with  the  most  rotten  material  of  the 
Provincial  ruins. 

Against  this  wrong,  which  appeared  a  very  gross  one  from  the 
Berkshire  stand-point  of  1775,  Mr.  Allen,  in  the  fall  of  that  year, 
took  the  field  with  even  more  than  his  accustomed  ardor,  resolved 
to  agitate  for  a  change  until  it  should  be  effected ;  and,  from  that 


342  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

time  forward,  he  was  "  restless  in  his  endeavors  "  to  that  end,  until, 
in  1780,  Massachusetts  obtained  a  Bill  of  Rights  the  most  nearly 
perfect  which  had  ever  been  constructed,  and  a  Constitution  which, 
although  some  of  its  provisions  conflicted  with  his  ultra-demo- 
cratic notions,  as  a  whole  commanded  his  approbation,  and  which, 
having  the  sanction  of  that  authority  to  which  he  always  bowed,  — 
the  will  of  the  people  freely  expressed,  —  he  held  to  be  entitled  to 
the  full  allegiance  of  every  good  citizen. 

During  the  four  years  of  that  contest,  the  Pittsfield  minister 
was  the  apostle  in  Berkshire  of  constitutional  government  and 
democratic  ideas ;  visiting  every  town,  and  urging  his  views  every- 
where by  speeches,  sermons,  resolutions,  conversations,  and  letters. 
His  success  was  remarkable.  A  large  majority  of  the  people 
acceded  to  his  doctrines.  The  towns  and  county  conventions 
adopted  resolutions,  addresses,  and  memorials  in  accordance  with 
them,  and  often  drafted  by  him ;  while  most  of  the  committees  of 
inspection  were  remodelled  in  order  to  secure  vigor  in  prosecuting 
the  measures  adopted  by  his  advice. 

It  is  a  conspicuous  proof  of  the  power  of  Mr.  Allen's  earnest- 
ness, eloquence,  and  personal  consideration,  that  a  single  address 
by  him  was  sometimes  sufficient  to  revolutionize  the-  entire  senti- 
ment of  a  town  against  the  wishes  of  its  own  most  prominent  citi- 
zens, and  that  his  teachings  impressed  upon  the  people  of  Berk- 
shire political  characteristics  which  remain  strongly  marked  to 
this  day ;  for  it  was  in  this  fiery  campaign,  rather  than  in  his  sub- 
sequent political  career,  that  he  had  the  opportunity  to  inculcate 
those  enduring  principles  whose  deep  root  among  these  hills,  and 
wide-spread  influence  wherever  the  sons  of  Berkshire  have  found 
a  home,  are  ascribed  to  him  by  those  most  familiar  with  the  intel- 
lectual history  of  the  county.  In  argument,  he  was  logical,  and 
not  unskilled  in  the  subtler  arts  of  oratory.  In  appeal,  he  was 
vehement  and  earnest;  impassioned  often  to  a  degree  that  car- 
ried him  to  extremes  in  his  expressions  concerning  opponents,  and 
to  something  like  exaggeration  in  his  denunciation  of  measures. 
Righteous  indignation  was  not  greatly  tempered  by  any  thing  in 
the  composition  of  his  mind.  Exaggerated  denunciation  was, 
however,  a  fault  of  the  day ;  and  it  is  to  Mr.  Allen's  credit,  that  in 
his  papers  we  find  none  of  that  coarseness  of  epithet,  or  vulgarity 
of  invective,  which  disgraced  the  pages  of  many  of  his  contempo- 
raries. His  blade,  if  trenchant,  was  at  least  polished. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  343 

The  first  town  action  in  the  agitation  for  a  constitution,  of 
which  we  find  a  record,  although  some  must  have  taken  place 
earlier,  was  on  the  26th  of  December,  1775,  when  the  following 
memorial  was  adopted : 1  — 

The  Petition,  Remonstrance,  and  Address  of  the  Town  of  Pittsfield  to  the  Honorable  Board 
of  Councillors  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
in  General  Assembly,  now  sitting  at  Watertown. 

MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  HONORS, — 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  unalterably  attached  to  the  liber- 
ties of  their  country  and  in  the  fullest  approbation  of  Congressional  measures, 
with  all  humility,  deference,  and  candor,  beg  leave  to  manifest  the  painful 
anxieties  and  distresses  of  our  minds  in  this  definitive  crisis,  not  only  in  be- 
half of  ourselves,  but  of  this  great  and  powerful  Province,  and  declare  our 
abhorrence  of  that  constitution  now  adopting  in  this  Province.  Nothing 
but  an  invincible  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  for  ourselves  and  future 
posterity  has  induced  us  to  add  to  your  accumulated  burdens  at  this  great 
period. 

Our  forefathers  left  the  delightful  abodes  of  their  native  country,  and 
passed  a  raging  sea,  that  in  these  solitary  climes  they  might  enjoy  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  never  more  feel  the  hand  of  tyranny  and  persecution  ; 
but  that  despotic,  persecuting  power  which  they  fled  reached  them  on  these 
far-distant  shores,  the  weight  of  which  has  been  felt  from  their  first  emigra- 
tion to  the  present  day.  After  the  loss  of  the  charter  of  this  Province  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  a  popish  tyrant,  a  new  one  was  obtained, 
after  the  Revolution,  of  King  William  of  glorious  memory,  which  was  lame 
and  essentially  defective,  and  yet  was  of  great  value  for  the  support  of  tol- 
erable order  till  we  had  grown  up  to  our  present  strength  to  seek  that  by 
force  of  arms  which  was  then  unjustly  denied  us. 

The  nomination  and  appointment  of  our  governors  by  the  king  has  been 
the  source  of  all  the  evils  and  calamities  that  have  befallen  this  Province 
and  the  united  Colonies.  By  this  means,  a  secret  poison  has  been  spread 
throughout  all  our  towns,  and  great  multitudes  have  been  secured  for  the 
corrupt  designs  of  an  abandoned  administration.  Many  of  these  men,  who 
had  drank  of  this  baneful  poison,  could  not  be  confided  in  to  aid  and  assist 
their  country  in  the  present  contest ;  which  was  one  reason  for  the  necessity 
of  a  suppression  of  government. 

At  this  door  all  manner  of  disorders  have  been  introduced  into  our  consti- 
tution, till  it  has  become  an  instrument  of  oppression  and  deep  corruption, 
and  would  probably,  had  it  been  continued,  have  brought  upon  us  an  eternal 
destruction. 

The  want  of  that  one  privilege  of  confessing  judgment  in  cases  of  debt 

1  This  memorial,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Allen,  is  preserved  in  the  State 
archives. 


344  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

has  overwhelmed  great  multitudes  in  destruction,  and  afforded  encouragement 
to  our  mercenary  lawyers  to  riot  upon  the  spoils  of  the  people. 

We  have  been  ruled  in  this  county  for  many  years  past  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

The  tyranny,  despotism,  and  oppression  of  our  fellow-subjects  in  this 
county  have  been  beyond  belief.  Since  the  suppression  of  government,  we 
have  lived  in  peace,  love,  safety,  liberty,  and  happiness,  except  the  disorders 
and  dissensions  occasioned  by  the  Tories.  We  find  ourselves  in  danger  of 
returning  to  our  former  state,  and  of  undergoing  a  yoke  of  oppression  which 
we  are  no  longer  able  to  bear. 

We  have  calmly  viewed  the  nature  of  our  ancient  mode  of  government, 
its  various  sluices  of  corruption,  the  danger  and  effects  of  nominating  to 
office  by  those  in  power,  and  must  pronounce  it  the  most  defective,  discord- 
ant, and  ruinous  system  of  government  of  any  that  has  come  under  our 
observation.  We  can  discern  no  present  necessity  of  adopting  that  mode 
of  government  so  generally  reprobated  by  the  good  people  of  this  Province, 
or  which  will  inevitably  be  so  as  soon  as  the  great  rational  majority  of  the 
people  have  had  tune  for  proper  reflection. 

The  adopting  this  mode  of  government  to  the  length  we  have  gone  has, 
in  our  view,  been  hasty  and  precipitate.  It  was  surprising  to  this  town,  and 
directly  contrary  to  the  instructions  given  to  their  representative.  By  this 
means,  a  considerable  number  of  incurable  enemies  to  a  better  constitution 
have  been  made ;  and,  if  ever  adopted  by  the  people,  we  shall  never,  perhaps, 
be  able  to  rid  ourselves  of  it  again. 

We  have  seen  nothing  done  by  the  Continental  Congress  which  leads  us 
to  conclude-  that  they  would  limit  us  to  this  mode  of  government.  We  do 
not  know  of  their  having  given  us  any  advice  that  must  necessarily  be  con- 
strued in  opposition  to  what  they  gave  the  governments  of  New  Hampshire 
and  South  Carolina,  who,  if  they  think  it  necessary,  are  to  choose  such  a 
form  of  government  as  they  in  their  judgment  shall  think  will  best  promote 
the  happiness  of  the  pepple,  and  preserve  peace  and  good  order,  during  the 
present  dispute  with  Great  Britain. 

Certainly  the  Continental  Congress  could  have  no  intention  of  forcing 
upon  us  a  constitution  so  detested  by  the  people,  and  so  abhorrent  to  common 
sense,  and  thus  to  reward  us  for  our  unparalleled  sufferings.  We  have  been 
led  to  hope  for  new  privileges,  which  we  still  hope  to  obtain,  or  remain,  so  far 
as  we  have  done  for  some  time  past,  in  a  state  of  nature. 

We  have  with  decency  and  moderation  attended  to  the  various  argu- 
ments of  those  gentlemen  lately  created  our  rulers ;  particularly  we  have 
heard  it  urged  as  the  advice  of  the  venerable  Continental  Congress.  We 
have  sufficiently  attended  to  that  and  the  various  other  arguments  in  favor 
of  re-assuming  our  ancient  constitution,  and  are  of  opinion  there  is  no  such 
advice,  the  qualifying  expressions  leaving  ample  room  to  new-model  our  con- 
stitution ;  but,  if  there  is,  we  are  of  opinion  that  unlimited  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance  to  any  human  power  whatever  is  what  we  are  now  con- 
tending with  Great  Britain,  and  to  transfer  that  power  to  any  other  body  of 
men  is  equally  dangerous  to  our  security  and  happiness. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  345 

"We  choose  to  be  known  to  future  posterity  as  being  of  the  number  of 
those  who  have  timely  protested  against  the  re-assumption  of  this  discordant 
constitution,  and  shall  be  restless  in  our  endeavor  that  we  may  obtain  the 
privilege  of  electing  our  civil  and  military  officers.  We  assure  your  Honors 
that  some  of  those  who  have  been  appointed  to  rule  us  are  greatly  obnox- 
ious to  people  in  general,  especially  those  who  have  protested  against  the 
just  proceedings  of  a  Congress  lately  held  in  Stockbridge.  We  beg  leave 
further  to  assure  your  Honors  that  a  court  has  been  held  in  this  town  hi  a 
clandestine  manner,  and  great  dishonor  hereby  done  to  the  dignity  of  ma- 
gistracy. 

We  therefore  pray  your  Honors  to  issue  out  your  orders  to  the  good  people 
of  this  Province,  that  then-  votes  may  be  collected  in  the  election  of  a  gov- 
ernor and  lieutenant-governor  to  act  in  concert  with  the  Honorable  Board 
and  House  of  Representatives ;  after  which  we  pray  that  every  town  may 
retain  the  privilege  of  electing  their  justices  of  *he  peace,  and  every  county 
their  judges,  as  well  as  the  soldiers  of  every  company  of  militia  their  officers. 
If  the  right  of  nominating  to  office  is  not  vested  in  the  people,  we  are 
indifferent  who  assumes  it,  —  whether  any  particular  persons  on  this  or  the 
other  side  of  the  water. 

When  such  a  constitution  is  formed,  you'll  find  us  the  most  meek  and  in- 
offensive subjects  of  any  in  this  Province ;  although  we  would  hope,  in  such 
a  case,  that  the  wisdom  of  our  rulers  would  not  admit  of  collecting  private 
debts  for  the  present,  as  we  imagine  that  measure  would  be  of  great  detri- 
ment to  our  common  cause,  as  it  would  put  much  money  into  the  hands  of 
our  enemies,  and  create  divisions  among  ourselves. 

But,  if  this  just  and  reasonable  request  is  denied  us,  we  pray  that,  as  we 
have  lived  in  great  love,  peace,  and  good  order  in  this  county  for  more  than 
sixteen  months  past,  in  the  most  vigorous  unintermitted  exertions  in  our 
country's  cause,  that  you  would  dispense  with  a  longer  suspension  of  this 
ancient  mode  of  government  among  us  that  we  so  much  detest  and  abhor. 
The  government  of  our  respective  committees  is  lenient  and  efficacious ;  but 
if  it  is  necessary,  for  carrying  into  more  effectual  exertion  the  means  of  com- 
mon safety,  that  some  mode  of  government  should  be  adopted,  we  pray  that 
it  may  be  de  novo,  agreeable  to  that  fore-mentioned  advice  of  the  Continen- 
tal Congress,  and  no  more  of  our  ancient  form  be  retained  than  what  is  just 
and  reasonable.  We  hope,  in  the  establishment  of  such  new  constitution, 
that  regard  will  be  had  for  such  a  broad  basis  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
as  no  length  of  time  will  corrupt  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  shall  endure. 

And  as  in  duty  bound  will  we  pray. 

Per  order  of  the  town,  ISRAEL  DICKINSON,  Town  Clerk. 

N.  B.  —  Upon  the  foregoing  premises,  and  on  account  of  obnoxious  per- 
sons being  appointed  to  rule  us,  the  court  of  this  county  of  Quarter  Sessions 
is  ordered  to  desist  from  any  future  sessions. 

Our  resolves  may  be  seen  at  Mr.  Thomas's,  which  we  entered  into  at  the 
same  time  this  petition  was  accepted  by  the  town. 


346  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

No  record  of  the  Congress  at  Stockbridge  remains,  and  the 
Pittsfield  resolutions  are  also  lost:  so  that  it  is  not  known  what 
measures  they  directed  in  order  to  exclude  the  new  civil  adminis- 
tration from  the  county;  but  their  spirit  may  be  inferred  from 
the  quaintly  audacious  postscript  to  the  Pittsfield  memorial,  and 
from  the  subsequent  action  of  the  people.  It  was  certainly  rec- 
ommended by  one,  and  resolved  by  the  other,  effectually  to  resist 
the  holding  of  the  county  courts,  and  the  exercise  of  the  magis- 
tracy by  those  who  had  lately  received  commissions  signed  by 
"  a  majority  of  the  council,"  and  running  in  the  name  of  the  king 
against  whose  authority  their  soldiers  were  fighting. 

The  justices  of  the  Sessions,  before  the  plans  of  the  people  were 
ripe,  had  made  haste  to  hold  a  secret  meeting,  at  which  they  had 
transacted  business,  so  far  at  least  as  to  license  certain  innholders, 
who  paid  six  shillings  each  to  the  pockets  of  the  justices  for 
papers  which  proved  worse  than  useless ;  for  the  towns,  which  had 
assumed  the  powers  of  this  court,  not  only  refused  to  recognize 
the  validity  of  its  licenses,  but  in  many  cases  would  not  be  per- 
suaded to  replace  them  with  their  own,  —  rigidly  excluding  from 
the  honorable  fraternity  of  Bonifaces  the  favorers  of  the  new 
government  as  well  as  the  friends  of  the  king. 

The  next  court  appointed  to  be  held  was  the  term  of  the  quarter 
sessions  at  Pittsfield  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  February,  1776;  and, 
until  the  near  approach  of  that  day,  it  seems  that  public  sen- 
timent was  not,  in  all  the  towns,  ripe  for  obstructing  the  sitting ; 
for  Col.  Ashley  and  others,  in  a  petition  to  the  next  April  session 
of  the  Legislature,  asserted  that  the  people  of  Richmond,  having, 
only  a  short  time  previous,  voted  to  sustain  the  government,  Mr. 
Allen,  on  Sunday  evening,  Feb.  18,  delivered  them  an  address, 
"  which,  together  with  his  private  exhortations,  had  the  desired 
effect,  and  the  people  were  influenced  to  the  degree  the  preacher 
designed." 

It  "may  perhaps  be  well  to  note,  that,  although  an  odor  of 
sanctity,  derived  from  its  proximity  to  the  "  sabbath,"  pertained 
to  Sunday  evening  with  the  New-England  fathers,  it  was  not 
"holy  time"  in  the  sense  which  the  evening  of  Saturday  was; 
but,  if  it  had  been  otherwise,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  Mr. 
Allen  would  have  considered  it  profanation  to  devote  it  to  the 
defence  of  a  cause  which  he  held  to  be  holy. 

On  the  day  previous  to  that  "fixed  for  the  court,  the  several 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  347 

committees  of  inspection,  &c.,  met  at  Pittsfield,  summoned,  as  Col. 
Ashley  ^charged,  by  Mr.  Allen  and  his  associates,  to  hinder  the 
session  from  taking  place.  "  Mr.  Allen,"  continues  Ashley,  "  al- 
though not  a  member  of  the  convention,  appeared  as  the  chief 
agitator  and  spokesman,  and,  having  read  a  pamphlet  entitled 
'Common  Sense,'  as  his  text,  made  great  reflections  upon  the 
General  Court  as  his  doctrine  and  improvement,  after  which  he 
produced  a  large  number  of  resolves,  by  himself  previously  com- 
piled, which  were  put  and  voted  by  a  majority  of  those  present." 

Paine's  "  Common  Sense "  had  been  issued  from  the  press  in 
Philadelphia  three  months  previous  to  this  convention ;  and  it  had 
evidently  powerfully  impressed  Mr.  Aliefi,  confirming  and  advan- 
cing his  opinions  of  republican  polity. 

Adapted  as  it  was,  by  the  clearness  and  vigor  of  its  style,  to 
ready  popular  comprehension,  it  was  a  shrewd  device  in  those 
days,  when  the  circulation  even  of  political  tracts  was  limited,  to 
read  and  enlarge  upon  it  in  an  assembly  of  leading  politicians 
from  all  parts  of  the  county.  The  old  meeting-house  under  the 
elin  that  day  sent  out  one  of  those  influences  of  which  it  was 
prolific,  and  which  are  felt  to  this  day  in  every  nook  and  corner 
of  Berkshire.  It  is  likely  enough,  too,  that,  in  addition  to  laying 
down  and  applying  general  principles,  Mr.  Allen  may  have  said 
severe  things  of  the  Great  and  General  Court,  being  more  than 
ever  convinced,  that,  having  assumed  power  without  sufficient 
warrant,  it  intended  to  perpetuate  it. 

The  influence  of  these  harangues  seems  to  have  been  as 
powerful  with  the  people  as  with  the  convention  ;  for  Col.  Ashley 
goes  on  to  inform  us  that  they  "  were  so  much  influenced  that  no 
court  was  suffered  to  sit,  and  all  commissions  of  civil  officers 
upon  which  hands  could  be  laid  were  taken  away."  The  gentle- 
men of  the  Sessions  went  home  unincumbered  by  the  spoils  of 
office,  and  holding  that  the  county  was  reduced  to  a  state 
of  anarchy  and  confusion.  The  convention  called  it  "  a  state  of 
nature."  It  was,  in  fact,  the  somewhat  arbitrary  rule  of  town- 
meetings  and  revolutionary  committees ;  something  very  different, 
to  be  sure,  from  the  beneficent  operation  of  established  laws,  but 
far  removed  also  from  anarchy,  and  that  confusion  which  a  relapse 
to  unrestrained  nature  would  entail. 

The  story  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  throughout  the 
Commonwealth  does  not  show  so  much  haste  in  re-establishing 


348  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  tribunals  specially  designed  for  the  protection  of  property  as, 
according  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  the  direful  circumstances  of 
the  Province  demanded.  In  all  the  eleven  counties  of  the  State, 
except  Worcester,  impediments  of  one  kind  or  another  seem  to 
have  prevented  the  machinery  of  those  courts  from  going  into 
immediate  operation ;  although  in  all,  except  Berkshire  and 
Hampshire,  commissions  to  the  new  judges  were  issued  in  Octo- 
ber, 1775. 

In  Worcester,  the  court  sat  promptly  on  the  5th  of  the  ensuing 
December ;  in  Suffolk,  in  April ;  and  in  Middlesex,  in  May,  1776.  In 
Plymouth,  there  is  no  record  of  any  terms  held  by  the  judges  first 
appointed ;  and  those  appointed  April  10,  1777,  did  not  take  their 
seats  until  December  of  that  year.  Dukes  was  without  a  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  until  March,  1777 ;  and  Nantucket  until  1783. 
The  records  of  Essex,  Barnstable,  and  Bristol  are  imperfect,  but 
indicate  more  or  less  delay. 

New  judges  for  Hampshire  were  commissioned  about  the  first 
of  January,  1778,  and  probably  took  their  seats  in  the  course  of 
4he. same  year.  No  new  commissions  were  issued  for  Berkshire 
until  Feb.  26,  1779,  when  Col.  John  Ashley  of  Sheffield,  John 
Bacon  of  Stockbridge,  Col.  William  Whiting  of  Great  Barrington, 
and  Col.  John  Brown  of  Pittsfield,  were  appointed,  but  never 
attempted  to  hold  courts.1  The  impediments  to  the  courts  in 
Hampshire  were  identical  with  those  existing  in  Berkshire: 
although  in  the  former  county  they  yielded  to  the  promise  of 
a  constitution ;  in  the  latter,  only  to  its  actual  establishment. 
How  far  delay  in  the  other  counties,  or  in  any  of  them,  indicated 
a  public  sentiment  similar  to  that  which  prevailed  in  Western 
Massachusetts,  we  have  not  at  hand  the  means  of  ascertaining ;  but 
it  would  have  been  very  strange  if  in  no  other  part  of  the  State 
the  opponents  of  the  Congressional  scheme  had  been  ready  to 
adopt  the  measures  of  those  in  the  west,  with  whom  they  sym- 
pathized in  feeling. 

In  Berkshire,  the  ordinary  channels  of  justice,  obstructed,  as  we 
have  seen,  when  the  king's  judges  were  crowded  from  their  seats 
at  Great  Barrington  in  1774,  were  not  re-opened  until  the  re-organ- 
ization of  the  judiciary  under  the  constitution  of  1780;  so  that  for. 
six  years  no  courts  were  held  in  the  county.  During  the  inter- 

1  Washburn's  History  of  the  Judiciary  of  Massachusetts. 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  349 

regnum,  the  local  authorities  preserved  public  order,  and  restrained 
crimes  against  person  and  property,  far  from  perfectly,  it  is '  true, 
but  less  imperfectly  than  was  to  have  been  expected;  and  the 
want  of  the  civil  courts  was  not  so  severely  felt  in  business  re- 
lations as  it  would  have  been  in  communities  with  larger  and 
more  complicated  mercantile  interests. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    BERKSHIRE  CONSTITUTIONALISTS  (CONTINUED). 
[1775-1780.] 

Pittsfield  challenges  legislative  Attention  to  its  Recusance.  —  Second  Memorial.  — 
Congress  practically  revokes  its  Advice.  — Berkshire  demands  a  Constitution, 
which  the  General  Court  neglects  to  provide.  —  Projected  Constitution  of  1777. 

—  Pittsfield  accepts  it  in  Part,  but  the  State  rejects.  —  The  Non-constitutionalists 
memorialize.  —  Their  Statement.  —  The  Legislature  appeals  to  the  People  of 
Berkshire.  —  Consequent  Action.  —  Vote  of  the   Towns   still  excluding   the 
Courts.  —  The  County  petitions   for  a  Constitutional    Convention.  —  Strong 
Language  of  the  Petition.  —  The  Legislature  passes  an  act  of  Pardon  and 
Oblivion.  —  Pittsfield  denounces  it  as  uncalled  for  and  libellous.  —  The  Legis- 
lature informs  Berkshire  of  Measures  towards  complying  with  its  Demands.  — 
The  County  nevertheless  excludes  the  Courts  until  the  Constitution  shall  be 
actually  adopted.  —  Final    Memorial    to  the   Legislature.  —  Instructions  of 
Pittsfield  to  its  Delegate  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  —  Newspaper  Libels. 

—  Conclusion. 

"YTTHATEVER  may  have  rendered  tolerable  the  lack  of  civil 
V  V  government  in  Berkshire,  the  General  Court  could  not 
have  passed  over  in  silence  the  flagrant  rebellion  existing  there 
against  its  own  authority,  which  had  not  only  been  brought 
formally  to  its  notice  by  the  memorial  of  Col.  Ashley,  and  by  the 
complaint  of  Justice  Goodrich,  who  had  been  roughly  handled  by 
the  Pittsfield  committees  for  attempting  to  act  under  its  commis- 
sion, but  had  been  boldly  announced  by  the  town  for  the  very 
purpose  of  challenging  the  attention  of  the  legislature. 

A  joint  committee  was  therefore  appointed  to  visit  Pittsfield, 
and  inquire  into  the  causes  of  complaint,  but  did  not  do  so ;  the 
desired  information  having  come  from  other  sources,  among 
which  the  following  paper  from  a  Pittsfield  town-meeting  was 
prominent :  — 

350 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  351 

To  THE  HONORABLE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  HONORABLE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 
OF  THE  COLONY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAT  IN  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  MET  AT 
WATERTOWN,  MAY  29, 1776. 

The  petition  and  memorial  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield  in  said  Colony  humbly 
showeth,  — 

That  they  have  the  highest  sense  of  the  importance  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  the  destructive  nature  of  tyranny  and  lawless  power,  and  the 
absolute  necessity  of  legal  government  to  prevent  anarchy  and  confusion. 

That  they,  with  their  brethren  in  the  other  towns  in  this  county,  were 
early  and  vigorous  in  opposing  the  destructive  measures  of  British  adminis- 
tration against  these  Colonies ;  that  they  early  signed  the  non-importation 
league  and  covenant,  raised  minute-men,  agreed  to  pay  them,  ordered  their 
public  moneys  to  be  paid  to  Henry  Gardner,  Esq.,  receiver-general,  cast  in 
their  mite  for  the  relief  of  Boston,  and  conformed  in  all  things  to  the  doings 
of  the  Honorable  Continental  and  Provincial  Congresses. 

That  they  met  with  the  utmost  opposition  from  an  unfriendly  party  in  this 
town  in  every  step,  in  every  measure  they  pursued  agreeable  to  the  common 
councils  of  this  Continent,  which  nothing  but  the  most  obstinate  persever- 
ance has  enabled  them  to  overcome  and  surmount,  which,  together  with  the 
inconveniences  we  have  labored  under,  afford  the  true  reason  why  we  have 
been  so  behind  in  the  payment  of  our  public  taxes. 

That  they,  with  the  other  towns  in  this  county,  have  come  behind  none  in 
their  duty  and  attachment  to  their  country's  cause,  and  have  exerted  them- 
selves much  beyond  their  strength  on  all  occasions. 

A  fresh  instance  of  their  zeal  was  conspicuous  in  our  late  defeat  at 
Quebec,  when  a  considerable  number  of  men  were  raised  and  sent  off  in  the 
dead  of  winter,  and  lay  dying  of  sickness  before  the  walls  of  Quebec,  before 
any  one  man  from  this  Colony  had  so  much  as  left  his  own  habitation  for 
the  relief  of  our  distressed  friends  in  Canada. 

That  from  the  purest  and  most  disinterested  principle  and  ardent  love  for 
their  country,  without  selfish  consideration,  and  in  conformity  with  the  advice 
of  the  wisest  men  in  the  Colony,  they  ordered  and  assisted  in  suspending 
the  executive  courts  in  this  county  in  August,  1774. 

That  on  no  occasion  have  they  spared  either  cost  or  trouble,  without  hope 
of  pecuniary  reward,  vigorously  and  unweariedly  exerting  themselves  for 
the  support  and  defence  of  their  country's  cause,  notwithstanding  the  most 
violent  discouragements  we  have  met  with  from  open  or  secret  enemies  in 
this  town  and  county,  and  in  the  neighboring  Provinces. 

That,  till  last  fall,  your  memorialists  had  little  or  no  expectation  of  obtain- 
ing any  new  privileges  beyond  what  our  defective  charter  secured  to  us. 

That  when  they  came  more  maturely  to  reflect  on  the  nature  of  the 
present  contest  and  the  spirit  and  obstinacy  of  administration,  —  what  an 
amazing  expense  the  United  Colonies  had  incurred,  and  how  many  of  our 
towns  had  been  burnt  or  otherwise  damaged,  what  multitudes  had  been 
turned  out  to  beg,  and  how  many  of  our  valiant  heroes  had  been  slain  in 


352  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  defence  of  their  country,  —  and  the  impossibility  of  our  being  ever  again 
dependent  on  Great  Britain,  or  in  any  measure  subject  to  her  authority ; 
when  they  further  considered  that  the  revolution  hi  England  afforded  the 
nation  but  a  very  imperfect  redress  of  grievances,  —  the  nation,  being  trans- 
ported with  extravagant  joy  in  getting  rid  of  one  tyrant,  forgot  to  provide 
against  another,  —  and  how  every  man  by  nature  has  the  seeds  of  tyranny 
deeply  implanted  within  him,  so.  that  nothing  short  of  Omnipotence  can 
eradicate  them ;  when  they  attended  to  the  advice  given  this  Colony  by  the 
Continental  Congress  respecting  the  assumption  of  our  ancient  Constitution, 
how  early  that  advice  was  given,  the  reason  of  it,  and  the  principles  upon 
which  it  was  given,  which  no  longer  exist ;  what  a  great  change  of  circum- 
stances there  has  been  in  the  views  and  designs  of  this  whole  Continent 
since  the  giving  said  advice ;  that  when  they  considered  that  now  is  the 
only  time  we  have  reason  ever  to  expect  for  securing  our  liberties  and  the 
liberties  of  future  posterity  upon  a  permanent  foundation  that  no  length 
of  time  can  undermine,  —  though  they  were  filled  with  pain  and  anxiety 
at  so  much  as  seeming  to  oppose  public  councils,  yet,  with  all  these  con- 
siderations in  our  view,  love  of  virtue,  freedom,  and  posterity  prevailed  upon 
us  a  second  time  to  suspend  the  courts  of  justice  in  this  county,  after  the 
judges  of  the  Quarter  Sessions  had,  in  a  precipitate  and  clandestine  manner, 
held  one  court,  and  granted  out  a  number  of  licenses  to  innholders  at  the 
rate  of  six  shillings  or  more  each,  and  divided  the  money  amongst  themselves 
with  this  boast,  that  "  now  it  was  going  to  be  like  former  times,"  and  had 
discovered  a  spirit  of  independence  of  the  people,  and  a  disposition  tri- 
umphantly to  ride  over  their  heads,  and  worse  than  renew  all  our  former 
oppressions. 

We  further  beg  leave  to  represent  that  we  are  deeply  affected  at  the 
misrepresentations  that  have  been  made  of  us  and  the  county  in  the  General 
Court  as  men  deeply  in  debt,  dishonest,  ungovernable,  heady,  intractable, 
without  principle  and  good  conduct,  and  ever  ready  to  oppose  lawful  au- 
thority, as  mobbers,  disturbers  of  peace,  order,  and  union,  unwilling  to  submit 
to  any  government,  or  even  to  pay  our  debts  ;  so  that,  we  have  been  told,  a 
former  House  of  Representatives  had  it  actually  in  contemplation  to  send 
an  armed  force,  to  effect  that  by  violence  which  reason  only  ought  to  effect 
at  the  present  day.  We  beg  leave,  therefore,  to  lay  before  your  Honors  our 
principles,  real  views,  and  designs  in  what  we  have  hitherto  done,  and  what 
object  we  are  reaching  after ;  with  this  assurance,  that,  if  we  have  erred,  it 
is  through  ignorance,  and  not  bad  intention. 

We  beg  leave,  therefore,  to  represent  that  we  have  always  been  persuaded 
that  the  people  are  the  fountain  of  power ;  that,  since  the  dissolution  of  the 
power  of  Great  Britain  over  these  Colonies,  they  have  fallen  into  a  state  of 
nature. 

That  the  first  step  to  be  taken  by  a  people  in  such  a  state  for  the  enjoy- 
ment or  restoration  of  civil  government  among  them  is  the  formation  of 
a  fundamental  constitution  as  the  basis  and  ground- work  of  legislation ; 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  353 

that  the  approbation,  by  the  majority  of  the  people,  of  this  fundamental 
constitution  is  absolutely  necessary  to  give  life  and  being  to  it ;  that  then, 
and  not  till  then,  is  the  foundation  laid  for  legislation. 

We  often  hear  of  the  fundamental  constitution  of  Great  Britain,  which 
all  political  writers  (except  ministerial  ones)  set  above  the  king,  Lords,  and 
Commons,  which  they  cannot  change ;  nothing  short  of  the  great  rational  ' 
majority  of  the  people  being  sufficient  for  this. 

A  representative  body  may  form,  but  cannot  impose  said  fundamental 
constitution  upon  a  people,.as  they,  being  but  servants  of  the  people,  cannot 
be  greater  than  their  masters,  and  must  be  responsible  to  them ;  that,  if  this 
fundamental  constitution  is  above  the  whole  legislature,  the  legislature  cer- 
tainly cannot  make  it ;  it  must  be  the  approbation  of  the  majority  which 
gives  life  and  being  to  it ;  that  said  fundamental  constitution  has  not  been 
formed  for  this  Province ;  the  corner-stone  is  not  yet  laid,  and  whatever 
building  is  reared  without  a  foundation  must  fall  to  ruins ; 

That  this  can  be  instantly  effected  with  the  approbation  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress ;  and  law,  subordination,  and  good  government  flow  in  better 
than  their  ancient  channels  in  a  few  months'  time;  that,  till  this  is  done,  we 
are  but  beating  the  air,  and  doing  what  will  and  must  be  undone  afterwards,, 
and  all  our  labor  is  lost,  and  on  divers  reasons  worse  than  lost ; 

That  a  doctrine  newly  broached  in  this  county  by  several  of  the  jus- 
tices newly  created  without  the  voice  of  the  people,  that  the  representatives, 
of  the  people  may  form  just  what  fundamental  constitution  they  please,  and 
impose  it  upon  the  people,  and,  however  obnoxious  to  them,  they  can  obtain. 
no  relief  from  it  but  by  a  new  election ;  and,  if  our  representatives  should 
never  see  fit  to  give  the  people  one  that  pleases  them,  there  is  no  help  for 
it,  —  appears  to  us  to  be  the  rankest  kind  of  Toryism,  the  self-same  monster 
we  are  now  fighting  against. 

These  are  some  of  the  truths  we  firmly  believe,  and  are  countenanced, 
in  believing  them  by  the  most  respectable  political  writers  of  the  last  and 
present  century,  especially  by  Mr.  Burgh  in  his  political  disquisitions,  for 
the  publication  of  which  one-half  of  the  Continental  Congress  were  sub- 
scribers. 

We  beg  leave  further  to  represent,  that  we  by  no  means  object  to  the 
most  speedy  institution  of  legal  government  through  this  Province,  and  that 
we  are  as  earnestly  desirous  as  any  others  of  this  great  blessing. 

That,  knowing  the  strong  bias  of  human  nature  to  tyranny  and  despot- 
ism, TJC  have  nothing  else  in  view  but  to  provide  for  posterity  against  the 
wanton  exercise  of  power,  which  cannot  otherwise  be  done  than  by  the 
formation  of  a  fundamental  constitution. 

What  is  the  fundamental  constitution  of  this  Province  ?  What  are  the 
inalienable  rights  of  the  people  ?  the  power  of  the  rulers  ?  how  often  to  be 
elected  by  the  people,  &c.  ?  Have  any  of  these  things  been  as  yet  ascer- 
tained ?  Let  it  not  be  said  by  future  posterity,  that,  in  this  great,  this  noble, 

this  glorious  contest,  we  made  no  provision  against  tyranny  among  ourselves. 
23 


354  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

We  beg  leave  to  assure  your  Honors,  that  the  purest  and  most  disinter- 
ested love  of  posterity,  and  the  fervent  desire  of  transmitting  to  them  a  fun- 
damental constitution,  securing  to  them  social  rights  and  immunities  against 
all  tyrants  that  may  spring  up  after  us,  has  moved  us  in  what  we  have  done. 
We  have  not  been  influenced  by  hope  of  gain,  or  expectation  of  preferment 
and  honor ;  we  are  no  discontented  faction ;  we  have  no  fellowship  with 
Tories ;  we  are  the  stanch  friends  of  the  union  of  these  Colonies,  and  will 
support  arid  maintain  your  Honors  in  opposing  Great  Britain  with  our  lives 
and  treasure.  But  even  if  commissions  be  recalled,  and  the  king's  name 
struck  off  them ;  if  the  fee-table  be  reduced  never  so  low,  and  multitudes  of 
other  things  be  done  to  still  the  people,  —  all  is  to  us  nothing  while  the  foun- 
dation is  unfixed,  the  corner-stone  of  government  unlaid.  We  have  heard 
much  of  government  being  founded  in  compact :  what  compact  has  been 
formed  as  the  foundation  of  government  in  this  Province  ?  We  beg  leave 
further  to  represent,  that  we  have  undergone  many  grievous  oppressions  in 
this  county,  and  that  now  we  wish  a  barrier  might  be  set  up  against  such 
oppressions,  against  which  we  can  have  no  security  long  till  the  foundation 
of  government  be  well  established. 

We  beg  leave  further  to  represent  these  as  the  sentiments  of  by  far  the 
majority  of  the  people  of  this  county,  as  far  as  we  can  judge  ;  and  being  so 
agreeable  to  reason,  scripture,  and  common  sense,  as  soon  as  the  attention 
of  the  people  of  this  Province  is  awakened  we  doubt  not  the  majority  will 
be  with  us. 

We  beg  leave  further  to  observe,  that,  if  this  honorable  body  shall  find 
that  we  have  embraced  errors  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  these  Colonies,  it  is 
our  petition  that  our  errors  may  be  detected,  and  you  shall  be  put  to  no 
further  trouble  from  us ;  but,  without  an  alteration  in  our  judgment,  the  ter- 
rors of  this  world  will  not  daunt  us.  We  are  determined  to  resist  Great 
Britain  to  the  last  extremity,  and  all  others  who  may  claim  a  similar  power 
over  us.  Yet  we  hold  not  to  an  imperium  imperio ;  we  will  be  determined 
by  the  majority. 

Your  petitioners,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  request  that  this  honorable  body 
would  form  a  fundamental  constitution  for  this  Province,  after  leave  is  asked 
and  obtained  from  the  Honorable  Continental  Congress,  and  that  said  con- 
stitution be  sent  abroad  for  the  approbation  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
'this  Colony ;  that,  in  this  way,  we  may  emerge  from  a  state  of  nature,  and 
enjoy  again  the  blessings  of  civil  government.  In  this  way  the  rights  and 
blessings  of  civil  government  will  be  secured,  the  glory  of  the  present  Devo- 
lution remain  untarnished,  and  future  posterity  rise  up  and  call  the  Honora- 
ble Council  and  House  of  Representatives  blessed ;  and,  as  in  duty  bound, 
will  ever  pray. 

Attest :  ISRAEL  DICKINSON,  Town  Clerk. 

This  paper,  like  the  first  memorial  of  the  town,  was  from  the  pen 
of  Mr.  Allen ;  and  the  growth  in  his  mind,  and  that  of  his  fellow- 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  355 

citizens,  of  democratic  ideas,  and  a  desire  for  constitutional  guar- 
anties of  free  government,  will  be  observed  without  a  specific 
recapitulation  of  the  points  of  the  address.  A  nobler  defence  of 
the  course  pursued  by  the  constitutionalists  could  hardly  have 
been  framed,  or  one  based  upon  sounder  political  maxims. 

It  proved  sufficiently  explicit  to  forestall  the  proposed  inquiry 
into  the  causes  of  complaint  in  Berkshire ;  and  the  General  Court 
seems  to  have  been  so  far  satisfied,  that  no  further  action  with 
regard  to  affairs  in  that  county  was  had  that  year.  The  necessity 
of  a  -more  satisfactory  basis  of  government,  indeed,  forced  itself 
upon  attention,  and  would  not  be  put  aside,  even  in  that  era  of 
military  disaster  and  extraordinary  calls  for  exertion  in  the  field  ; 
so  that,  for  a  time,  the  extreme  measures  adopting  in  the  western 
counties  attracted  less  notice. 

Those  who  favored  the  retention  of  the  baseless  fabric  of  gov- 
ernment, under  which  Massachusetts  was  neither  Province,  Colony, 
nor  State, —  maid,  wife,  nor  widow,  —  were  indeed  puzzled  to  find 
a  pretext  for  its  longer  continuance.  The  corner-stone  of  Congres- 
sional advice  had,  aS  we  have  seen,  been  sadly  impaired  by  the  ad- 
verse recommendations  given  to  other  Colonies ;  and  the  last  frag- 
ment of  support  in  that  quarter  had  crumbled  under  the  passage 
of  the  famous  resolutions  of  May,  1776,  declaring  that  "  the  exer- 
cise of  every  kind  of  authority  under  the  king  ought  to  be  sup- 
pressed." At  home,  the  legislature  had  previously  entered  upon 
measures  to  eradicate  the  king's  name  from  all  legal  and  official 
processes,  and  to  replace  all  commissions  under  the  regal  authority 
with  others  under  that  of  the  Colony.  But  the  use  of  the  royal 
name  and  style,  irritating  to  the  masses,  who  had  been  taught  by 
George  III.  heartily  to  detest  them,  was  abhorrent  to  the  constitu- 
tionalist thinkers  chiefly  as  the  symbol  and  the  evidence  of  a  de- 
termination by  those  in  power  at  Boston  to  cling  to  a  form  of 
government  which  ought  long  before  to  have  passed  away.  And,, 
now  that  the  symbol  of  royal  authority  would  no  longer  be  en- 
dured, the  disposition  to  stop  at  mere  superficial  and  palliatory 
reforms  was  so  manifest  as  to  excite  the  alarm  of  the  advocates  of 
a  constitution,  and  to  call  for  those  paragraphs  in  the  Pittsfield 
address  which  asserted  the  utter  insufficiency  of  any  thing  short 
of  a  frame  of  government  submitted  to,  and  established  by,  a  vote 
of  the  people.  Statesmen  of  the  highest  ability  and  purest  char- 
acter, throughout  the  State,  sympathized  with  the  zeal  of  the  men 


356  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  Berkshire,  although,  perhaps,  not  generally  with  the  measures 
by  which  they  re-enforced  their  not  excessively  humble  petitions. 

Pretexts  were,  however,  found  to  delay  action  until  September, 
when  the  General  Court  appointed  a  committee  "to  prepare  a  new 
frame  of  government."  But  the  body  which  had  made  no  hesita- 
tion in  taking  up  civil  government  upon  the  hint  given  by  Con- 
gress was  now  struck  with  a  sudden  qualm,  which  forbade  them  to 
proceed  further  towards  laying  it  down  without  the  express  con- 
sent of  their  constituents.  Even  the  preparation  of  the  ground- 
work of  a  constitution  was  therefore  suspended;  and  a  circular 
asking  authority  for  that  purpose  was  sent  to  the  towns,  who 
promptly  returned  a  favorable  response.  Pittsfield  voted,  "  That 
this  town  highly  approves  the  handbill  sent  out  on  the  17th  of 
September,  relative  to  the  present  General  Assembly  forming 
a  constitution,  and  to  be  sent  to  the  several  towns  for  their 
approbation." : 

The  decision  of  the  people  was  ascertained  at  the  May  session 
of  the  legislature ;  and  the  ensuing  summer  and  fall  were  spent  in 
preparing  a  draft  which  was  submitted  to  the  people  in  March, 
1778,  with  a  proviso  requiring  the  assent  of  two-thirds  of  the 
voters  to  give  it  validity.  It  is  strange,  that,  upon  a  matter  of  such 
fundamental  importance  as  this,  only  twelve  thousand  voters 
registered  themselves,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  towns  made 
no  return  at  all.  Of  those  who  took  the  trouble  to  vote,  five- 
sixths,  "  under  the  lead  of  an  almost  unanimous  public  sentiment 
in  Boston,"  declared  against  the  instrument  submitted  to  them. 

What  the  special  objections  to  it  were  is  matter  of  conjecture. 
Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  in  a  carefully-prepared  sketch  of  the 
reconstruction  of  government  in  Massachusetts,  speaks  of  it  as  "  a 
very  imperfect  instrument,  largely  partaking  of  the  haste  and  con- 
fusion of  the  time  in  which  it  was  made,  but  yet  very  much  better 
than  none  at  all,  or  than  the  temporary  system  which  necessity 
had  created  ; "  and  expresses  surprise  that  "  interests  had  already 
grown  up  in  the  period  of  interregnum  adverse  to  the  establish- 
ment of  any  more  permanent  government." 

1  The  town  showed  its  deep  interest  in  the  task  imposed  upon  the  legislature 
of  1777,  by  sending  to  it  an  unprecedented  number  of  representatives,  choosing 
tor  that  purpose  three  of  its  most  trusted  citizens,  —  Valentine  Rathbun,  Josiah 
Wright,  and  Eli  Root.  The  committee  of  instruction  was  also  of  unusual  ability, 
consisting  of  Cols.  Williams  and  Easton,  Capts.  Isarel  Dickinson,  William 
Francis,  and  James  Noble,  Lieuts.  William  Barber  and  Amos  Root. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  357 

The  truth  is,  that  those  interests  were  as  old  as  the  Colonial 
magistracy;  had  sought  shelter,  in  Province  times,  under  the 
gubernatorial  wing ;  had  dictated  the  government  of  the  interreg- 
num, and  now  desired  to  retain  it  with  only  such  modifications  as 
should  not  make  it  less  subservient  to  small  ambitions.  It  may  be 
shrewdly  suspected  that  there  were  those  engaged  in  framing  the 
abortive  ship  of  state  who  had  no  earnest  desire  that  it  should 
survive  the  launching.  To  frail  construction,  by  ill-designing 
workmen,  may  be  probably  ascribed,  in  part  at  least,  the  ill-starred 
fate  of  the  Constitution  of  1778. 

The  people  of  Pittsfield,  however,  held  the  same  opinion  which 
Mr.  Adams  expresses  of  the  proposed  instrument ;  and  although 
it  denied  their  darling  desire,  —  a  bill  of  rights,  —  and  in  other 
respects  fell  far  short  of  the  standard  which  they  had  set  up,  their 
vote  was  unanimous  for  accepting  it,  save  the  19th,  24th,  and  26th 
articles. 

The  19th  article  provided  that  all  civil  officers  annually  chosen, 
with  salaries  annually  granted,  should  be  elected  by  the  General 
Court ;  all  others  appointed  by  the  Governor  and  Senale.  Articles 
24th  and  26th  provided  that  the  judges,  justices  of  the  peace, 
attorney-general,  treasurer,  &c.,  should  hold  office  during  good 
behavior. 

The  voters  of  Pittsfield  were  strenuous  in  their  desire  that  all 
officers,  civil,  judicial,  and  military,  should  be  elected  by  the  people 
for  a  term  of  years. 

By  voting  to  accept  a  constitution  which,  in  many  respects, 
differed  widely  from  its  own  notions,  Pittsfield  now  gave  evidence 
that  it  desired  neither  anarchy  nor  the  rule  of  local  committees; 
but  only  insisted  upon  a  foundation  of  government  created  in  such 
a  way  as  to  recognize  the  right  of  the  people  to  model  their  own 
institutions,  and  remodel  them  whenever  they  should  see  cause. 

A  consistent  earnestness  in  the  same  direction  continued  to  be 
manifest  in  all  the  town  action.  It  having  been  demonstrated  that 
an  ordinary  legislative  body  was  ill  adapted  to  the  work,  Pitts- 
field  united  with  the  other  towns  in  the  county  in  a  petition  that 
a  convention  of  delegates  might  be  called,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  framing  a  constitution  and  bill  of  rights ;  and,  on  the  17th  of 
December,  Col.  John  Brown,  having  in  the  previous  May  been 
chosen  representative,  was  instructed  to  press  it  upon  the  House 
that  the  convention  should  be  called  as  soon  as  possible. 


358  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  town,  both  by  its  separate  action  and  by 
several  votes  in  conjunction  with  the  rest  of  the  county,  inflex- 
ibly maintained  its  determination  "  not  to  permit  the  holding  of 
the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  or  General  Sessions." 

On  the  3d  of  June,  1776,  shortly  after  the  presentation  of  the 
second  Pittsfield  address,  the  House  of  Representatives  received 
from  Joseph  Woodbridge  of  Stockbridge,  Joseph  Fan-field,  Dan 
Cadwellfc  Jacob  Ensign,  Erastus  Sackett,  and  Jacob  Ward,  of 
Pittsfield,  and  Ebenezer  Doane,  probably  of  Richmond,  "  a  state- 
ment of  the  unhappy  circumstances  of  this  distracted  county,"  in 
which  they  say, 1  — 

"  Numbers  of  these  enthusiastic  people 2  having  got  themselves  into  the 
office  of  committees  of  inspection  and  correspondence,  inoculate  the  minds 
of  their  votaries,  both  by  their  example  and  doctrines,  that  they  ought  to 
pay  no  more  obedience  to  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  General  Court  than 
they  themselves  think  proper ;  and  notwithstanding  the  General  Court,  by 
authority  from  the  Grand  American  Congress,  have  adopted  a  free  and  salu- 
tary form  of  government,  and  have  appointed  suitable  officers  in  this  county 
to  preserve  peace  and  good  order,  by  punishing  the  guilty  and  thereby  pro- 
tecting the  innocent,  yet  the  committees  above  mentioned,  disregarding  the 
authority  of  tbe  whole  continent,  whilst  they  themselves  are  despising, 
defaming,  assaulting,  and  abusing  the  civil  officers  your  Honors  have  ap- 
pointed in  this  county,  they  assume  to  themselves  judicial  authority,  and  in 
a  most  arbitrary  manner  execute  the  same,  both  in  civil  as  well  as  criminal 
matters ;  and  this  presumption  of  the  committees,  your  petitioners  humbly 
conceive,  will  be  attended  with  very  pernicious  consequences,  if  a  very 
speedy  stop  should  not  be  put  to  their  illegal  proceedings,  as  they  will  inev- 
itably lay  the  foundation  for  a  multiplicity  of  law-suits  whenever  order  and 
legal  government  shall  be  restored  in  this  county." 

This  statement  affords  a  fair  view  of  the  aspect  which  affairs 
in  the  county  bore  in  the  eyes  of  the  minority  which  advocated 
submission  to  the  State  government.  The  reader  is  already  pos- 
sessed of  the  different  light  in  which  it  presented  itself  to  those 
who  regarded  the  necessity  of  a  fundamental  law  as  paramount 
to  all  considerations  of  immediate  evils  incident  to  a  struggle  for 
its  attainment. 

The  legislature,  whatever  may  have  been  its  reasons,  dismissed 


i 


It  is  to  be  observed  that  Cadwell,  Fairfield,  and  Sackett  were  afterwards  prom- 
inent "  Shay's  rebels ; "  a  fact  which  will  be  taken  into  consideration  in  estimat- 
ing their  present  devotion  to  law  and  order. 
2  The  constitutionalists. 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  359 

the  Woodbridge  memorial,  and,  so  far  as  appears  from  tfoe  record, 
paid  no  further  attention  to  the  Berkshire  troubles  until  the  1st 
of  February,  1777. 

On  that  day,  the  question  of  a  new  constitution  having  in  the 
previous  September  been  referred  to  the  people,  the  following 
preamble  and  order  passed  both  houses  :  — 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  Feb.  1,  1777. 

Whereas  our  ancestors,  the  venerable  and  virtuous  settlers  of  this  country, 
who  were  no  less  remarkable  for  their  attachments  to  the  rights  of  mankind  than 
their  zeal  for  religion,  did,  in  the  early  ages  of  this  State,  enact  sundry  laws 
for  the  encouragement  of  piety  and  virtue,  and  the  preventing  profane  swear- 
ing, breaking  of  the  sabbath,  and  other  immoralities,  for  which  the  Supreme 
Being  has  usually  punished  a  people  ; 

And  many  laws  having  lately  been  passed  by  this  and  the  last  General 
Court  to  detect  and  punish  those  persons  who  are  trying  to  subvert  the  liberty 
of  these  free  States,  which  laws  cannot  be  carried  into  execution  without 
holding  executive  courts  within  the  several  counties  of  this  State ; 

And  whereas  it  is  represented  that  the  justices  of  the  peace,  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Berkshire  and  Hampshire,  have  neglected  to  hold  courts  of  General 
Sessions  of  the  Peace  as  the  law  directs;  and  grand  jurors,  who  have  al- 
ways been  deemed  an  order  of  men  upon  whom  the  well-being  of  society 
much  depended,  have  not,  in  those  counties,  been  chosen  as  usual,  and  the 
justices  there  have  been  prevented  from  punishing  small  offences  within 
their  cognizance,  by  reason  of  there  being  no  Court  of  General  Sessions  of 
the  Peace  to  appeal  to,  by  which  delay  of  distributive  justice  there  is  great 
danger  of  immoralities  increasing ;  and  as  the  power  invested  in  civil  magis- 
trates is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  people,  more  especially 
while  an  army  is  on  foot  in  the  country : 

It  is  therefore  — 

Ordered,  That  the  justices  of  the  said  counties  be,  and  they  hereby  are, 
directed  to  hold  their  courts  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  at  the  times 
and  in  the  places  by  law  prefixed  therefor ;  and  it  is  also  recommended 
to  the  good  people  of  these  counties  to  consider  how  much  the  happiness 
and  weal  of  society  depends  upon  the  orderly  and  regular  execution  of  the 
laws,  and  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  aid  and  support  the  civil  magistrates  in 
the  execution  of  their  office. 

The  General  Court  seems  to  have  expected  much  from  this 
paper;  for  in  December,  finding  that  it  had  not  been  properly  dis- 
tributed, it  directed  Daniel  Hopkins,  Esq.,  to  send  a  copy  to  each 
town  in  Hampshire  and  Berkshire. 

By  this  time,  the  Constitution,  destined  to  be  stillborn,  had  been 


360  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

framed ;  and,  probably  in  anticipation  of  its  early  adoption  rather 
than  influenced  by  the  document  disseminated  by  Mr.  Hopkins, 
the  people  of  Hampshire  permitted  courts  to  be  held  at  Spring- 
field. 

The  Berkshire  constitutionalists  too  shrewdly  appreciated  the 
tactics  by  which  the  proposed  Constitution  was  manipulated,  to 
trust  to  its  establishment  before  it  became  an  accomplished  fact. 
A  respectful  consideration  was,  however,  given  to  the  appeal  of 
the  General  Court ;  and  a  convention  was  held  at  Pittsfield  on  the 
12th  of  August,  —  Col.  William  Williams  presiding,  William 
Walker  of  Lenox  clerk, — to  determine  whether  the  county 
would  admit  the  courts  of  law.  The  convention  desired  the  sev- 
eral towns  to  take  a  vote,  by  yeas  and  nays,  whether  they  wished 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  or 
either  of  them,  to  be  holden  in  the  county  before  a  bill  of  rights 
and  a  constitution  were  framed  and  accepted  by  the  people." 
The  Pittsfield  Committee  of  Correspondence  was  also  requested 
to  write  to  the  committees  of  the  different  towns  in  Hampshire  and 
Worcester  for  advice. 

An  adjournment  was  then  had  to  the  26th  of  August,  when  the 
towns  were  expected  to  make  their  returns.1 

At  the  adjourned  meeting,  the  following  result  appeared  ;  the 
yeas  representing  those  who  favored  the  opening  of  the  courts :  — 

TOWNS.  Courts  of  Sessions.     Courts  of  Com.  Pleas. 

Yeas.         Nays.  Yeas.  Nays. 

Richmond,  30  31  30  21 

Alford,  18  0  0  18 

Lenox,  1  69  0  63 

Washington,  3  16  0  20 

Hancock,  35  0  2  33 

Lee,  9  12  9  12 

Williamstown,  10  .60  10  60 

Carried  forward,  106  188  51  227 

1  Only  one  response  to  the  request  for  advice  is  preserved.  It  was  frcna  the  town 
of  Worcester ;  and  was  not  written  until  December,  —  long  after  Berkshire  had 
made  its  decision.  It  was  a  well-stated  and  temperately-worded  argument  against 
the  position  assumed  in  Berkshire,  but  was  far  from  conclusive  against  the  fixed 
idea  of  the  western  county,  that  government  based  on  any  thing  but  the  express 
consent  of  the  people  was  a  dangerous  usurpation.  It  was  signed  by  Daniel  Bige- 
low,  Nathaniel  Heywood,  William  Dana,  Joseph  Barbour,  and  Jonathan  Price. 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  361 

TOWNS.  *  Courts  of  Sessions.    Courts  of  Com.  Pleas. 

Yeas.  Nays.  Yeas.  Nays. 

Brought  forward,  106  188  51  227 

Gageborough  (now  Windsor),  2  61  2  61 

Partridgefield  (now  Peru  and  Hinsdale),      1  61  1  61 

Equivalent  (now  Dalton),  0  31  1  31 

Sheffield,  41  0  0  41 

Lanesborough,  .                   3  60  3  60 

New  Ashford,  0  25  0  25 

Great  Barrington,  59  0  16  11 

Stockbridge,  26  36  26  36 

New  Marlborough,  48  12  48  12 

Sandisfield,  18  20  0  38 

Loudon  (Otis),  13  1  1  7 

Pittsfield,  12  50  12  50 

329  545  161  660 

The  county  having  again,  by  this  decisive  majority,  refused  to 
admit  the  courts,  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  to 
draft  still  another  petition  for  a  constitutional  convention : 
James  Harris  of  Lanesborough,  William  Whiting  of  Great  Bar- 
rington, William  Williams  of  Pittsfield,  Benjamin  Pierson  of 
Richmond,  and  William  Walker  of  Lenox.  The  petition  reported 
by  them,  like  those  which  preceded  it,  recited  the  great  military 
services  of  the  county,  its  devoted  faithfulness  to  the  patriotic 
cause,  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  fly  to  the  assistance  of  their 
brethren  on  every  alarm,  and  their  abhorrence  of  Toryism.  It  then 
proceeds  thus : — 

"  Notwithstanding  this  our  fidelity  to  the  State  and  our  exertions  for  the 
common  cause,  we  have,  by  designing  and  disaffected  men,  been  represented 
as  a  mobbish,  ungovernable,  refractory,  licentious,  and  dissolute  people  ;  by 
means  whereof  we  have  been  threatened  with  dismemberment,  more  especially, 
as  we  conceive,  on  account  of  our  not  admiting  the  course  of  common  law. 

"  It  is  true  we  were  the  first  county  that  put  a  stop  to  courts,  and  were 
soon  followed  by  many  others,  —  nay,  in  effect,  by  the  whole  State ;  and  we 
are  not  certain  but  that  it  might  have  been  as  well,  if  not  better,  had  they 
continued  so,  rather  than  to  have  law  dealt  out  by  piecemeal,  as  it  is  this 
day,  without  any  foundation  to  support  it ;  for  we  doubt  not  we  should,  before 
this  time,  have  had  a  bill  of  rights  and  a  constitution,  which  are  the  only 
things  we  at  this  time  are  empowered  to  pray  for. 

"  And  we  do  now,  with  the  greatest  deference,  petition  your  Honors,  that 
you  would  issue  your  precepts  to  all  the  towns  and  places  within  this  State 


362  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

called  upon  to  pay  public  taxes,  requiring  them  to*  choose  delegates,  to  sit 
as  soon  as  may  be  in  some  suitable  place,  to  form  a  bill  of  rights  and  a  con- 
stitution for  this  State  ;  without  which  we  shall  retain  the  aforesaid  charac- 
ter, if  grounded  upon  the  non-admission  of  law,  as  abundantly  appears  to  us 
this  day  by  the  yeas  and  nays  from  the  respective  towns  we  represent,  taken 
in  town-meeting  officially  called  for  that  purpose,  there  being  four-fifths  of 
the  inhabitants  of  said  county  against  supporting  the  courts  of  law  until  a 
constitution  be  formed,  and  accepted  by  the  people. 

"  If  this  our  request  is  rejected,  we  shall  endeavor,  by  addressing  the  first 
Committee  of  Safety,  &c.,  in  this  State  and  others,  that  there  be  a  State  con- 
vention formed  for  the  purpose  aforesaid.  And,  if  this  Honorable  Court  are 
for  dismemberment,  there  are  other  States,  which  have  constitutions,  who 
will,  we  doubt  not,  as  bad  as  we  are,  gladly  receive  us ;  and  we  shall,  to  the 
utmost  of  our  ability,  support  and  defend  authority  and  law,  as  we  should, 
with  greater  cheerfulness,  in  the  State  to  which  we  belong,  were  there  any 
proper  foundation  for  it. 

"  We  are,  with  all  submission,  your  Honors'  youngest  child,  and  are  deter- 
mined, to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  to  protect  and  secure  our  just  inheritance, 
and  hope  our  parent,  will  graciously  concur  and  assist,  by  granting  this  our 
request. 

"  And,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 

This  appeal  tells  its  own  story,  and  shows  a  very  serious  com- 
plication of  affairs  between  the  State  and  the  county.  The  General 
Court  gave  it  earnest  attention ;  in  September,  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  "  what  was  necessary  to  be  done  towards  a  new 
constitution,"  and  immediately  afterwards  sent  a  deputation  to 
meet  the  delegates  of  the  Berkshire  towns,  at  Pittsfield,  "  inquire 
into  their  grievances,  and  endeavor  to  remove  them ;  "  announcing 
to  them,  at  the  same  time,  the  measures  which  had  just  been  taken 
in  regard  to  granting  their  demand  for  a  constitution,  and  assuring 
them  that  the  committee  to  whom  that  matter  was  referred  would 
report  upon  it  as  soon  as  might  be,  and  that  it  would  be  taken  up 
at  the  next  session. 

The  convocation  was  held  Nov.  17 ;  Valentine  Rathbun,  James 
Noble,  and  Josiah  Wright  representing  Pittsfield.  The  result,  in 
connection  with  a  subsequent  consultation  with  the  Berkshire 
representatives  in  the  legislature,  was  the  passage  of  a  very  abso- 
lute act  of  pardon  and  oblivion,  with  the  following  provisions :  — 

"  Whereas  the  situation  of  the  county  of  Berkshire  during  the  present 
troubles  has  been  such  as  induced  committees  and  other  persons  to  do  many 
acts  which,  in  strict  law,  may  be  deemed  criminal ;  therefore  — 

"First.  All  riots,  unlawful  assemblies,  rescues,  breaches  of  the  peace, 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSF1ELD.  363 

assaults,  batteries,  and  imprisonments  which  had  occurred  in  the  county 
between  the  10th  of  April,  1774,  and  the  1st  of  February,  1779,  were  par- 
doned, and  put  into  utter  oblivion. 

"  Second.  It  was  enacted,  that,  without  leave  first  had  of  the  General  Court, 
no  action  for  damage  should  be  brought  against  any  person  on  account  of 
any  act  done  under  the  authority  of  any  town,  town-officer,  or  committee  of 
correspondence  and  inspection,  within  the  county. 

"  Third.  It  was  ordered,  that  a  term  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature 
should  be  holden  annually  for  the  county  of  Berkshire,  at  Great  Barrington, 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  May." 

The  act  seems  worded  with  a  very  tender  consideration  for  the 
sensitiveness  of  those  to  whom  it  applied,  and  manifested  genuine 
delicacy  in  classing  among  the  acts  which  "  in  strict  law  MIGHT  be 
deemed  criminal,"  as  well  those  done  in  suppressing  the  king's 
courts  as  those  which  obstructed  the  sessions  of  the  State  tribu- 
nals ;  for  since  all  patriots  acknowledged  the  first  to  have  been 
praiseworthy  in  fact,  whatever  they  might  have  been  "deemed  in 
strict  law,"  no  very  severe  condemnation  could  have  been  intended 
by  the  General  Court  of  acts  which  it  classed  with  them  without 
discrimination. 

It  is  not  apparent  how  the  legislature  could  have  accomplished 
an  object  essential  to  the  restoration  of  "the  full  course  of  law" 
in  any  other  way,  unless  it  had  succumbed  to  the  Berkshire  theory, 
that  its  own  authority  was  usurped,  and  thus  thrown  all  the  affairs 
of  the  State  into  confusion ;  a  course  which  it  could  hardly  have 
been  expected  to  pursue,  with  whichever  party  the  abstract  right 
may  have  been. 

But  a  clear  comprehension  of  these  considerations  was  not  then 
to  have  been  expected ;  and  it  is  not  strange,  that,  instead  of  giving 
satisfaction  to  those  for  whose  benefit  it  was  intended,  the  act 
excited  their  ire.  Holding  themselves  to  be  the  champions  of 
legitimate  government  against  the  encroachments  of  its  enemies, 
they  claimed  praise,  and  not  pardon,  as  their  due,  and  spurned 
indignantly  the  most  remote  intimation  of  the  contrary. 

The  nature  and  strength  of  this  feeling  may  be  gathered  from 
the  instructions  of  Pittsfield  to  its  representatives,  Col.  William, 
Williams  and  Capt.  James  Noble,  in  which  these  paragraphs 
appear : — 

"  We  give  you  the  following  instructions,  viz. :  — 

"  1st.  That  you  do  use  your  utmost  endeavors  that  a  constitution  be  formed 
at  this  time." 


364  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

"  3d.  That  a  late  act  of  the  General  Court,  called  and  considered  to  be  an 
act  of  oblivion  respecting  the  county  of  Berkshire,  be  an  object  of  your 
attention,  and  that  your  exert  yourselves  that  the  same  may  be  repealed,  as 
it  was  undesired  by  the  county,  and  is  fraught  with  reproach,  discrimination, 
and  such  severe  reflections  upon  the  county  as  they  utterly  disdain,  and  are 
not  chargeable  with ;  not  to  mention  the  manifest  injustice  contained  in  it. 

"  4th.  That  the  appointment  of  a  Superior  Court  to  be  holden  in  this 
county  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  May  current  was  unnecessary  and  premature, 
and  that  the  gentlemen  who  proposed  such  a  measure  were  not  so  instructed 
and  directed." 

"  8th.  And,  as  you  are  chosen  to  represent  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  we  expect 
that  you  will  represent  it  as  a  town  of  a  county  which  has  acted  as  firmly 
and  consistently  as  any  county  in  this  State ;  and,  as  you  know  the  senti- 
ments of  the  county,  that  you  act  conformably  thereunto ;  and,  if  you  are 
not  treated  with  the  same  respect  with  representatives  of  other  counties, 
that  you  return  home,  and  give  us  the  pleasure  of  your  company." 

These  instructions  are  signed  by  Eli  Root,  John  Strong,  and 
James  Easton ;  but  the  original  draft  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Allen.1 

The  expectation  announced  to  the  people  of  Berkshire  by  the 
legislative  committee  was  realized ;  and  at  its  next  session,  —  that 
to  which  Messrs.  Williams  and  Noble  were  accredited,  —  the  Gen- 
eral Court  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  State  the  question 
whether  they  desired  to  have  a  new  constitution,  and,  if  so, 
whether  they  would  have  it  framed  by  a  convention  chosen 
expressly  for  that  duty. 

So  sluggish  was  public  sentiment  outside  of  Berkshire  and 
Hampshire  on  this  great  matter,  that  nearly  one-third  of  the  towns 
failed  to  make  any  return  of  their  vote ;  and  it  was  not  until  May 
that  it  was  known  that  a  majority  had  declared  for  a  convention. 

While  uncertainty  on  this  point  continued  to  prevail,  the  day 
fixed  for  the  new  term  of  the  Superior  Court  at  Great  Barrington 
approached ;  and  a  county  convention  met  and  adopted  an  address 
to  the  judges,  written  by  Mr.  Allen,  and  giving  a  brief  resume  of 
the  previous  opposition  to  the  courts,  with  the  reasons  which  had 
induced  it,  showing  that  those  reasons  still  existed,  and  closing  as 

follows :  — 

• 

"  We  are  fearful  of  the  consequences,  should  the  operation  of  the  law 
take  place  upon  the  present  foundation,  especially  if  it  should  be  attempted 

1  The  section  of  the  act  of  oblivion  which  instituted  the  new  term  of  tho 
Superior  Court  was  repealed.  The  rest  continued  in  force. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  365 

to  be  enforced  by  violence,  as  some  have  insinuated ;  which  insinuations  we 
hope  will  appear  to  be  groundless,  as  they  have  very  much  exasperated  the 
people.  We  must,  therefore,  in  duty  to  ourselves,  our  country,  and  our  con- 
stituents, earnestly  desire  that  your  Honors  would  desist  from  attempting  to 
sit  in  this  county,  until  the  explicit  voice  of  the  great  majority  of  the  free- 
men of  this  State  may  be  taken,  by  yeas  and  nays,  respecting  the  validity 
of  the  present  form  of  government,  by  whose  determination,  when  explicitly 
and  regularly  known,  we  are  determined  cheerfully  and  religiously  to  abide." 

Thus,  again  and  finally,  did  the  men  of  Berkshire  rest  the  defence 
of  their  course  —  where  they  had  first  placed,  and  ever  consistently 
maintained  it  —  upon  the  absolute  invalidity  of  government  based 
on  no  explicit  consent  of  the  governed ;  and  thus  did  they  reiterate 
their  purpose  to  endure  even  the  odious  debris  of  the  charter,  if 
the  majority  should  pronounce  that  to  be  their  will. 

Soon  after  these  proceedings,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  voters 
of  the  State  had  decided  for  a  convention ;  and  it  was  called  to 
meet  on  the  1st  of  the  following  September  at  Cambridge. 

Pittsfield  had  voted  unanimously  that  it  wished,  not  only  a 
constitution,  but  a  bill  of  rights,  "  and  that  as  soon  as  might  be." 
It  now  chose  Col.  William  Williams  delegate  to  the  conven- 
tion, with  the  following  committee  of  instruction :  Valentine 
Rathbun,  Thomas  Allen,  Eli  Root,  James  Noble,  and  Lebbeus 
Backus. 

Their  report,  prepared  by  Mr.  Allen,  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  political  papers  which  came  from  his  pen,  and  offers  a 
fitting  culmination  to  the  series  whose  introduction  here  has  been 
deemed  essential. 

It  must  be  remembered,  in  reading  it,  that  the  maxims  laid 
down  were  not,  in  1779,  the  accepted  truths  which  most  of  them 
have  become  to  later  generations ;  for  although  some  of  them  had 
already  been  incorporated  into  the  new  frames  of  government  in 
Vermont,  Virginia,  and  New  York,  and  most  of  them  had  been 
more  or  less  distinctly  proclaimed  by  political  writers,  the  sanctity 
which  time  has  conferred  upon  them  as  well-defined  propositions, 
integral  parts  of  the  Constitutions  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the 
American  Union,  was  yet  to  be  attained.  So  that,  while  of  course 
no  claim  to  origination  can  be  raised  for  this  declaration  of  what 
Pittsfield  desired  to  secure  in  the  instrument  which  had  so  long 
been  the  star  of  her  hope,  no  little  political  sagacity  and  right- 
mindedness  must  be  inferred  from  the  selection,  out  of  the  abound- 


366  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ing  dross,  of  so  much  which  the  test  of  experience  has  proved 
pure  gold. 

Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Town  to  draw  up  Instructions  for  their  Repre- 
sentatives in  Stale  Convention  is  as  follows :  — 

To  COL.  WILLIAMS. 

Sir,  —  As  you  have  been  duly  elected  by  the  town  of  Pittsfield  their 
representative  to  meet  in  a  convention  of  this  State  at  Cambridge,  the  1st  of 
September  next,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  new  Constitution  for  the  people 
of  this  State,  which  we  view  as  a  matter  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  the 
present  and  future  generations,  it  will  doubtless  be  agreeable  to  you  to 
understand  their  sentiments  for  the  government  of  your  deportment.  You 
are  therefore  hereby  instructed  to  unite  with  said  convention  in  drawing  up 
a  Bill  of  Rights  and  in  forming  a  new  Constitution  for  the  people  of  this 
State.  We  wish  you  to  oppose  all  unnecessary  delay  in  this  great  work, 
and  to  proceed  in  it  with  the  utmost  wisdom  and  caution. 

In  the  Bill  of  Rights,  you  will  endeavor  that  all  those  unalienable  and 
important  rights  which  are  essential  to  true  liberty,  and  form  the  basis 
of  government  in  a  free  State,  shall  be  inserted :  particularly,  that  this 
people  have  a  right  to  adopt  that  form  of  government  which  appears  to  us 
most  eligible,  and  best  calculated  to  promote  the  happiness  of  ourselves  and 
posterity ;  that  as  all  men  by  nature  are  free,  and  have  no  dominion  one 
over  another,  and  all  power  originates  in  the  people,  so,  in  a  state  of  civil 
society,  all  power  is  founded  in  compact ;  that  every  man  has  an  unalien- 
able right  to  enjoy  his  own  opinion  in  matters  of  religion,  and  to  worship 
God  in  that  manner  that  is  agreeable  to  his  own  sentiments  without  any  con- 
trol whatsoever,  and  that  no  particular  mode  or  sect  of  religion  ought  to  be 
established,  but  that  every  one  be  protected  hi  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  his 
religious  persuasion  and  way  of  worship  ;  that  no  man  can  be  deprived  of 
liberty,  and  subjected  to  perpetual  bondage  and  servitude,  unless  he  has  for- 
feited his  liberty  as  a  malefactor ;  that  the  people  have  a  right  peaceably  to 
assemble,  consider  of  their  grievances,  and  petition  for  redress ;  that,  as 
civil  rulers  derive  their  authority  from  the  people,  so  they  are  accountable  to 
them  for  the  use  of  it ;  that  elections  ought  to  be  free,  equal,  and  annual ; 
that,  as  all  men  are  equal  by  nature,  so,  when  they  enter  into  a  state  of  civil 
government,  they  are  entitled  precisely  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges,  or 
to  an  equal  degree  of  political  happiness ;  that  the  right  of  trial  by  jury 
ought  to  be  perpetual ;  that  no  man's  property  of  right  can  be  taken  from 
him  without  his  consent,  given  either  in  person  or  by  his  representative  ; 
that  no  laws  are  obligatory  on  the  people  but  those  that  have  obtained  a 
like  consent,  nor  are  such  laws  of  any  force,  if,  proceeding  from  a  corrupt 
majority  of  the  legislature,  they  are  incompatible  with  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  government,  and  tend  to  subvert  it ;  that  the  freedom  of  speech 
and  debates  and  proceedings  in  the  House  of  Representatives  ought  not  to 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  367 

be  questioned  or  impeached  in  any  court,  or  place  out  of  the  General  Court ; 
that  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor 
cruel  and  unjust  punishments  inflicted;  that  jurors  ought  to  be  duly  im- 
panelled and  returned,  and  all  jurors  ought  to  be  freeholders.  These,  and 
all  other  liberties  which  you  find  essential  to  true  liberty,  you  will  claim, 
demand,  and  insist  upon,  as  the  birthrights  of  this  people. 

In  respect  to  the  Constitution,  you  will  use  your  best  endeavors  that  the 
following  things  may  be  inserted  in  it  amongst  others :  That  the  election  of 
the  representative  body  be  annual ;  that  no  representative  on  any  occasion 
shall  absent  himself  from  said  House  without  leave  first  had  from  said  body, 
but  shall  constantly  attend  on  the  business  during  the  sessions.  Ah1  taxes 
shall  be  levied  with  the  utmost  equality  on  polls,  faculty,  and  property. 
You  may  consent  to  government  by  a  Governor,  Council,  and  House  of 
Representatives.  The  Governor  and  Council  shall  have  no  negative  voice 
upon  the  House  of  Representatives ;  but  all  disputed  points  shall  be  settled 
by  the  majority  of  the  whole  legislative  body.  The  supreme  judges  of  the 
executive  courts  shall  be  elected  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people  at  large,  and 
be  commissioned  by  the  Governor.  That  all  grants  of  money  shall 
originate  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  judges  of  the  maritime 
courts,  the  attorney-general,  and  high  sheriffs  of  each  county,  are  to  be 
appointed  by  the  suffrages  of  people  at  large,  and  commissioned  by  the 
Governor.  The  justices  of  the  Common  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  of  the 
Peace  in  each  county  be  elected  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people  of  said  counties. 
That  no  person,  unless  of  the  Protestant  religion,  shall  be  Governor,  Lieu- 
tenant-governor, or  member  of  the  Council  or  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  said  Bill  of  Rights  and  Constitution  you  will  move  may  be  printed, 
and  sent  abroad  for  the  approbation  of  the  people  of  this  State  at  large,  and 
that  each  town  be  requested  by  said  convention  to  show  their  approbation 
or  disapprobation  of  every  paragraph  in  said  Bill  of  Rights  and  Constitution, 
and  that  it  be  not  sent  abroad  for  their  approbation  or  disapprobation  in 
the  lump ;  and  that  the  objectionable  parts,  if  any  such  shall  be,  shall  be 
pointed  out  by  each  town. 

You  are  not  to  dissolve  the  convention,  but  to  adjourn  from  time  to  time, 
as  you  shall  find  necessary,  till  said  form  of  government  is  approved  by  the 
majority  of  the  people. 

On  the  whole,  we  empower  you  to  act  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of  your 
own  judgment  after  you  have  heard  all  the  reasonings  upon  the  various 
subjects  of  disquisition,  having  an  invariable  respect  to  the  true  liberty  and 
real  happiness  of  this  State  throughout  all  generations,  any  instructions 
herein  contained  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

THOMAS  ALLEN, 

ELI  ROOT, 

JAMES  NOBLE,         *   Comnuttee. 

Accepted.    Attest:  LEBBEUS  BACKUS.. 

ELI  ROOT,  Moderator. 


368  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

In  the  instructions  as  originally  drawn,  the  delegate  was  au- 
thorized to  "consent  that  the  supreme  judges  of  the  executive 
courts  should  be  nominated  and  chosen  by  the  Governor,  Council, 
and  House  of  Representatives"  In  the  copy  attested  by  the 
moderator  of  the  town-meeting,  the  italicized  words  are  erased, 
and  with  a  "different  ink,  in  a  different  handwriting,  the  follow- 
ing are  substituted :  "  Shall  be  elected  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
people  at  larger  A  similar  change  occurs  in  the  clause  regard- 
ing the  judges  of  the  maritime  courts,  attorney-general,  and  the 
high  sheriffs. 

These  alterations  were  evidently  made  as  amendments  in  town- 
meeting,  and  indicate  that  even  Mr.  Allen  was  not  so  radical  in 
his  democracy  as  the  dominant  sentiment  of  the  town.  Mr. 
Rathbun,  it  will  be  observed,  did  not  sign  the  report ;  and  it  may 
have  been  that  the  changes  were  made  on  his  motion. * 

It  has  been  a  mooted  question  whether  slavery  was  abolished  in 
Massachusetts  by  the  deliberate  intention  of  the  people  when 
voting  for  the  Bill  of  Rights,  or  by  a  forced  construction  of  that 
instrument  in  the  courts.  Those  who  have  followed  the  record  of 
Pittsfield  will  concede  that  one  town  at  least  meant  the  Bill  of 
Rights  to  be  no  empty  declaration  of  abstract  principles,  but  a  living 
law,  requiring  no  legislative  enactment  to  give  it  efficiency.  Nor 
is  it  less  apparent  that  the  people  of  that  town  not  only  under- 
stood what  they  were  doing  when  they  cast  their  votes  to  ratify 
the  Bill  of  Rights,  but  that  they  well  knew,  and  clearly  said 
what  they  intended  to  say,  when  they  instructed  their  delegate 
to  endeavor  that  it  should  be  inserted  among  its  prohibitions  of 
wrong  "that  no  man  can  be  deprived  of  liberty,  and  subjected 
to  perpetual  bondage  and  servitude,  unless  he  has  forfeited  his 
liberty  as  a  malefactor?  Side  by  side  with  the  God-given  rights 
which  they  claimed  for  themselves,  they  placed  their  demand 
for  universal  freedom  as  equally  the  birthright  of  every  human 
being.2 

1  A  comparison  of  this  paper  with  the  Constitution  of  1780,  and  the  papers 
regarding  it  in  the  works  of  John  Adams,  will  senre  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  its 
character. 

2  The  homogeneous  sentiment,  which  the  reader  will  have  observed  in  the  pre- 
vious story  as  characterizing  Berkshire,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt,  that,  as  regards 
the  exclusion  of  slavery,  the  desire  of  all  its  towns  was  similar  to  that  of  Pittsfield. 
In  the  case  of  Stockbridge,  we  believe,  there  is  direct  evidence  that  it  was  so. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  369 

The  clause  in  relation  to  religious  liberty  was  far  in  advance 
of  the  article  upon  that  subject  which  was  actually  inserted  in  the 
Bill  of  Rights,  and  of  that  proposed  by  Mr.  Adams  as  well.  It 
may  reasonably  be  held  to  cover  even  that  complete  separation 
of  church  and  state  which  was  not  attained  until  the  abolition 
of  taxation  for  the  support  of  religious  worship  in  1834 ;  for  we 
may  reasonably  interpret  the  abstract  declaration  of  1779  in  the 
light  of  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  which  Mr.  Allen  wrote 
to  the  town  in  1783,  upon  learning  that  a  minority  were  dissatis- 
fied with  an  increase,  which,  on  account  of  the  depreciation  of  the 
currency,  had  been  voted  to  his  salary :  — 

"  Having  been  made  acquainted  by  several  persons  that  the  above-men- 
tioned grant  has  occasioned  uneasiness  and  dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of 
some  persons,  I  db  hereby  release  the  town  from  their  vote ;  it  never  having 
been  my  intention  to  be  supported  in  my  office  by  compulsion.  I  wish  for 
no  other  support  than  is  freely  granted,  nor  do  I  mean  to  continue  any  longer 
in  office  than  I  can  obtain  such  support." 

We  have  few  means  of  ascertaining  what  influence  the  town, 
by  its  action,  had  in  securing  the  provisions  which  it  desired,  and 
which  were  finally  placed  in  the  Constitution. 

The  convention  met  on  the  1st  of  September;  and,  on  the  6th, 
Col.  Williams  wrote  to  his  wife  that  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred delegates  had  arrived,  "  making  a  much  more  respectable 
body  than  he  was  apprehensive  could  be  collected  in  the  State." 
Before  he  closed  his  letter,  the  convention,  "having  chosen  a  grand 
committee  to  form  a  bill  of  rights  and  a  constitution,"  adjourned 
to  await  their  report.  He  was  uncertain  whether  he  should  him- 
self visit  home  in  the  interval,  but  directed  his  wife  to  inform  Mr. 
Allen  and  Capt.  Root  of  the  contents  of  his  letter,  and  request 
them  to  write  him. 

Mr.  Allen  was  thus  cognizant  of  the  position  of  affairs  in  the 
convention  as  well  as  of  the  names  of  the  committee,  which  Col. 
Williams  had  enclosed  ;  and  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  neither 
he  nor  Col.  Williams,  nervously  anxious  as  both  were  upon  the 
subject,  placed  at  least  the  substance  of  the  town's  instructions  in 
the  hands  of  the  committee,  or  of  John  Adams,  who  was  commis- 
sioned by  his  associates  to  prepare  the  first  draft  of  their  work. 

The  Bill  of  Rights  and  Constitution  prepared  by  the  conven- 
tion were  established  by  the  people  in  May,  1780. 

24 


370  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  vote  of  Pittsfield  in  its  favor  was  apparently  unopposed 
and  unabimous ;  although  some  of  the  provisions  which  it  con- 
tained were  at  variance  with  the  preconceived  notions  of  its 
people. 

The  desire  which  they  had  expressed  that  the  proposed  form 
of  government  should  be  submitted  to  them  "  article  by  article, 
and  not  in  the  lump,"  was  prompted  by  the  fear  of  some  such  in- 
congruous creation  as  that  of  1777  ;  and  they  must  have  seen,  that, 
e.ven  if  practicable,  it  would  have  been  out  of  place  to  subject  to 
such  a  process  of  revision  as  was  requested  the  well-balanced 
production  of  1780,  which  was  prepared  with  all  the  skill  of  a 
profound  and  learned  student  of  government,  and  from  which  one 
of  the  parts  ignorantly  torn  away  would  have  been  very  likely 
to  impair  the  soundness  of  all. 

This  was  so  self-evident  as  not  to  be  questioned ;  and,  the  State 
government  being  thus  fixed  upon  the  sure  foundation  which  they 
had  so  assiduously  sought,  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Pittsfield, 
ever  after  —  even  when  the  Shays  Rebellion  agitated  the  western 
counties  —  were  content  to  seek  the  reforms  which  remained  to 
be  effected  in  the  laws  through  the  channels  provided  by  the 
Constitution. 

In  addition  to  the  controversy  which  has  been  sketched  between 
the  General  Court  and  the  dominant  party  in  Berkshire,  regarding 
the  measures  which  the  latter  adopted  as  a  protest  against  the  base- 
less government  set  up  in  the  State,  and  as  the  means  of  securing  a 
constituent  law,  a  bitter  and  wordy  dispute  was  carried  on  in  the 
newspapers ;  poor  Mr.  Watson,  of  "  The  Hartford  Courant,"  being 
specially  afflicted  with  the  communications  on  both  sides.  And, 
as  usually  happens  in  acrimonious  political  conflicts,  each  party 
grossly  misrepresented  and  maligned  the  other.  On  the  one  hand, 
although  among  those  who  favored  a  recognition  of  the  obnoxious 
government,  and  the  admission  of  the  courts,  there  were  some  of 
the  truest  patriots  in  Berkshire,  on  whom  not  the  shadow  of  sus- 
picion of  treachery  to  the  American  cause  could  justly  have  rested, 
yet  they  were  indiscriminately  posted  in  the  public  prints,  and 
charged  by  the  public  action  of  the  towns,  as  "  enemies  of  their 
country,"  in  precisely  the  same  phraseology  that  was  used  concerning 
the  Tories.  One  not  acquainted  with  the  facts  would  infer  'from 
the  record,  that  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich,  for  example,  was,  in  the 
opinion  of  his  townsmen,  false  to  the  Revolutionary  cause  ;  while, 
in  fact,  it  had  no  more  sincere  supporter. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  371 

There  was,  however,  something  to  give  color  of  reason  to  this 
misconception,  in  the  fact  that  the  Tories  of  Pittsfield,  almost  with- 
out exception,  favored  the  restoration  of  the  courts  under  the  old 
system,  and  the  recognition  of  the  State  government  as  legitimate, 
—  reserving  the  rights  of  the  king.  The  polemical  skill,  the 
talent,  and  the  style  of  Woodbridge  Little  are  unmistakable  in  the 
ablest  papers  on  the  side  of  the  non-constitutionalists.  It  was 
truly  said,  too,  that  Goodrich  "  consorted  with  the  most  ancient 
and  implacable  Tories  of  the  town;"  and,  although  it  was  only 
one  of  the  strange  combinations  which  are  often  effected  in  poli- 
tics, its  influence  against  him  at  the  time  was  irresistible.  And  so, 
on  the  other  hand,  phases  in  the  conduct  and  measures  of  the  con- 
stitutionalists favored  the  assertion  of  their  enemies,  that  they 
were  a  set  of  violent,  turbulent,  and  dishonest  fellows,  who  only 
desired  to  suppress  the  courts,  lest  they  might  be  brought  to 
account  for  their  misdeeds,  and  be  compelled  to  pay  their  honest 
debts. 

So  effectually,  indeed,  did  the  newspaper  libellers  affix  this 
stigma  to  the  rejection  of  civil  administration  in  Berkshire,  that  it 
has  not  even  yet  been  removed. 

And  yet,  surely,  love  of  license,  and  the  hope  of  avoiding  just 
responsibilities,  never  inspired  such  consistent  devotion  to  consti- 
tutional law  as  the  Berkshire  fathers  constantly  manifested  ;  never 
surely,  before  or  since,  were  a  people  educated  by  the  harangues 
of  demagogues,  and  appeals  to  passion  or  selfish  interests,  up  to 
the  comprehension  of,  and  desire  for,  the  establishment  of  such 
principles  of  government  as  Pittsfield  instructed  Col.  Williams  to 
advocate  in  the  convention  of  1779.  Tried  by  the  decisive  test 
of  its  effect  upon  the  intellectual  character  of  the  people,  the 
agitation  of  1775-80  stands  fully  justified. 

In  argument  and  action,  the  Berkshire  constitutionalists  were 
better  able  to  cope  with  their  antagonists  than  in  the  arts  of 
detraction.  In  the  beginning,  we  saw  them  yielding  to  the 
apprehensions  of  their  representatives  in  Congress  their  own 
convictions  that  a  new  form  of  government  ought  at  once  to  be 
established ;  thus  proving  their  subordination  of  local  feeling  to 
the  general  good.  Roused  by  the  selfish  appropriation  of  official 
patronage  in  the  General  Court  of  1775  to  a  new  perception  of 
the  evils  inseparable  from  unrestricted  power,  as  well  in  the  hands 
of  elected  representatives  as  of  anointed  kings,  and  the 


372  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

jealousy  which  forbade  free  action  to  Massachusetts  being  allayed, 
they  renewed  their  demand  for  a  fundamental  law.  To  the 
suggestion  that  the  opportunity  annually  to  change  their  represent- 
atives ought  to  satisfy  them,  they  replied,  in  substance,  "  What  we 
crave  is  not  the  privilege  of  changing  masters.  Some  of  the 
powers  inherent  in  the  people  we  do  not  choose  to  delegate ;  some 
we  would  intrust,  with  carefully-guarded  restrictions,  to  our  repre- 
sentatives-; all  we  would  have  exercised  by  ourselves  as  well  as 
our  deputies,  in  certain  well-defined  modes  of  operation,  and  in 
accordance  with  a  fundamental  law  solemnly  agreed  upon.  That 
is,  we  ask  a  constitution  for  the  Commonwealth."  Upon  this  simple 
demand  they  rang  the  changes  through  six  years  of  angry  political 
controversy. 

Sorely  pressed  to  forego  this  boon  till  a  more  convenient  season, 
they  at  last  pledged  themselves  to  yield  for  the  time  even  to  the 
existing  government,  upon  the  single  condition  that  it  should  first 
be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  so  that  their  will  might  thus 
be  recognized  as  the  proper  source  of  all  rightful  authority.  A 
Constitution  once  established,  it  received  their  fullest  allegiance. 

*  o 

From  first  to  last  there  was  nothing  factious  in  their  conduct. 

For  many  things  they  expressed  desire  as  component  parts  of 
the  frame  of  government;  but  upon  one  only  they  insisted,  and 
that  was  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  people's  right  to  model  and 
remodel  their  institutions  as  they  saw  cause. 

It  was  urged  upon  them,  that  their  uncompromising  demand 
for  this  disturbed  the  harmony  which,  while  the  war  lasted,  ought 
to  be  preserved  in  the  patriotic  ranks.  Their  reply  was,  that,  if 
they  were  to  be  the  subjects  of  arbitrary  power,  it  mattered  little 
whether  its  seat  were  in  London  or  Boston,  and  that,  if  the  gov- 
ernment now  set  up  were  once  quietly  "permitted  to  take  place," 
it  would  be  very  difficult  ever  after  to  shake  it  off.  The  example  of 
Connecticut,  and  still  more  emphatically  that  of  Rhode  Island,  — 
both  which  States  retained  charters  far  more  liberal  than  that 
of  Massachusetts  as  the  bases  of  their  independent  govern- 
ments,—  show  how  just  was  that  apprehension.  Nor  was  there 
really  much  in  the  turmoil  of  the  times  to  defer  the  task  of  fram- 
ing and  adopting  a  new  form  of  government.  The  most  perfect 
charters  of  freedom  —  so  cunningly  devised  that  tyranny  cannot 
reach  its  victims  without  entirely  setting  them  aside  —  were  the 
work  of  disturbed  eras.  Magna  Charta  was  not  the  child  of 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  373 

Peace,  nor  was  the  Habeas  Corpus  act.  Trial  by  jury  dates  back 
to  an  age  of  perpetual  war.  The  Declaration  of  American  Inde- 
pendence was  born  of  conflict ;  and  the  Constitution  of  Massa- 
chusetts, providing  for  the  most  complex  relations  of  people  and 
government,  was  none  the  less  wisely  constructed,  that  it  was  finally 
framed  while  war  gave  strength  and  tone  to  men's  minds.  Is  it 
too  much  to  claim  that  the  Berkshire  constitutionalists  were  wiser 
than  their  generation  in  their  strenuous  opposition  to  "  the  inter- 
ests which  had  grown  up  in  the  State  adverse  to  any  more  per- 
manent form  of  government"  than  consorted  with  the  small 
ambitions  of  the  magisterial  class  ? 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   BERKSHIRE   CONSTITUTIONALISTS.  —  COMMITTEE   GOVERNMENT 
OF   THE  INTERREGNUM. 

[1774-1780.] 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  Inspection,  and  Safety.  —  Their  Character  and 
Origin.  —  Subordinated  in  1776  to  the  Courts  of  Law.  —  The  Berkshire  Com- 
mittees refuse  Submission.  —  Their  Administration  of  Justice.  —  Curious  Sur- 
veillance of  Morals  and  Manners.  —  Town  Court  established.  —  Its  Rules  of 
Practice  and  Fee-Table.  —  Discipline  of  Capt.  Goodrich  by  the  Committee.  — 
He  appeals  to  the  Legislature.  —  Details  of  the  Case. 

ONLY  brief  allusion  has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
to  the  substitutes  adopted  in  Pittsfield  for  the  suppressed 
courts  of  law ;  but  the  reader  will  curiously  inquire  how,  when 
the  ordinary  machinery  of  government  was  obstructed,  "  tolerable 
order  was  maintained." 

It  so  happened  that  Massachusetts  had  retained,  through  all 
changes  in  her  condition,  what  to  her  was  of  more  worth  than 
royal  charters,  —  her  system  of  town  governments,  each  so  com- 
plete within  itself,  that,  in  the  lapse  of  exterior  authority,  it  lacked 
little  to  become  a  perfect  State  ;  and  each  with  citizens  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  that  they  were  capable  of 
meeting  whatever  responsibilities  were  thrown  upon  them. 

When,  therefore,  in  1774,  the  judicial  system  of  the  Province 
was  broken  up,  the  towns  found  little  difficulty  in  assuming  so 
much  of  its  authority  as  the  public  necessity  required  should  not 
utterly  fail ;  resorting,  in  the  absence  of  precedent,  to  divers  plans 
for  the  proper  execution  of  the  duties  newly  devolved  upon  them. 
Occasionally  the  people,  in  town-meeting  assembled,  adjudicated 
directly  upon  matters  brought  before  them.  Sometimes  they 
erected  special  tribunals ;  as  in  Attleborough,  where  the  old  Provin- 

374 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  375 

cial  fabric  was  imitated  in  miniature,  with  a  superior  court  of  four 
judges,  and  an  inferior  court  of  seven.  But  generally — and  in 
Berkshire  County  universally  —  the  improvised  machinery  of  jus- 
tice was  much  less  complex ;  its  entire  powers  being  vested  in  the 
committees  of  inspection,  with  the  occasional  aid  of  a  board  of  arbi- 
trators, such  as,  immediately  after  the  first  suppression  of  the 
courts,  was  appointed  in  Pittsfield,  and  of  which  an  account  was 
given  in  the  proper  connection. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  committee  rule  was 
formally  devised,  adopted,  and  organized  as  a  substitute  for  the 
courts  and  magistracy.  It  was  an  outgrowth,  developed  little  by 
little  by  the  necessities  of  the  times,  from  the  New-England  prac- 
tice of  placing  every  public  business  in  the  hands  of  a  commis- 
sion. 

Under  the  different  organizations  known  as  committees  of  cor- 
respondence, inspection,  and  safety,  it  had  played  an  important 
part  in  securing  unity  and  vigor  in  the  initiatory  stages  of  the 
Revolution;  and  the  powers  recognized  in  those  bodies  by  the  State 
and  Continental  governments  were  formidable  and  extensive.  Pre- 
cisely what  they  were,  we  are  informed  by  a  report  to  the  General 
Court  in  October,  1776.  According  to  this  paper,1  the  committees, 
originally  existing  by  sufferance,  acted  upon  their  own  discretion 
until  the  resolves  of  Congress,  directed  to  them,2  confirmed  and  in 
some  measure  defined  their  powers;  but  they  continued  to  "  act  dis- 
cretionally  "  when  the  resolves  were  not  to  be  procured,  or  did  not 
meet  the  case  in  hand.  Originally  the  province  of  the  committees  of 
correspondence  was,  by  the  interchange  of  letters  and  the  speedy 
communication  of  information,  to  apprise  the  community  of  dan- 
gers, and  to  concert  measures  for  the  public  good,  expose  the 
designs  of  the  enemies  of  liberty  to  public  execration,  and  incite 
opposition  to  them.  The  committees  of  inspection  took  cognizance 
of  unpatriotic  importations  of  British  goods,  exerted  themselves 
to  suppress  the  sale  of  tea,  and  generally  exposed  and  reprehended 
violations  of  the  non-importation  association,  and  denounced  all 
acts  detrimental  to  the  common  interests.  The  committees  of 
safety  were  instituted  to  concert  measures  for  the  public  safety  of 
their  respective  towns,  and  the  general  safety  of  the  community ; 
"  taking  cognizance  of  measures  afterwards  taken  up  by  Congress 

1  Mass.  Ar.,  vol.  cxxxvii.  p.  118. 

2  The  Resolves  of  Association,  directed  to  the  committees  of  inspection. 


376  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

as  well  of  lesser  matters  relative  to  internal  police  at  a  time  when 
prostrate  law  gave  no  remedy  against  disorder  and  confusion." 

"  These,"  says  the  report,  "  were  the  powers  these  several  com- 
mittees had  at  their  institution,  although  they  afterwards  received 
the  sanction  of  the  highest  authority." 

It  will  be  perceived,  that,  in  many  particulars,  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  three  classes  of  committee  were  identical ;  and  on 
the  13th  of  October,  1775,  they  were  consolidated  in  one,  by  an 
act  of  the  General  Court,  directing  each  town,  at  its  annual  election, 
to  choose  "  a  committee  of  correspondence,  inspection,  and  safety 
for  the  especial  purpose  of  attending  to  the  general  and  political 
interests  of  the  Colonies;  to  transmit  intelligence  to  committees  of 
the  same  denomination  in  other  towns  and  counties,  to  the  Gen- 
eral Court  and  the  Council,  as  they  might  deem  expedient ;  to  in- 
spect the  conduct  of  any  inhabitants  or  residents  in  their  respective 
towns  or  districts  violating  the  Continental  association,  the  resolves, 
directions,  or  recommendations  of  Congress,  the  acts  or  resolves  of 
the  General  Court,  or  the  proceedings  of  former  Congresses  of  this 
Colony,  respecting  the  struggle  with  Great  Britain ;  to  proceed 
according  to  the  direction  of  Congress,  and  the  laws  and  resolves 
of  this  Colony  in  such  cases  made  and  provided ;  to  inform  the  Gen- 
eral Court  or  the  Council  of  all  breaches  of  trust  in  the  officers  of 
state  and  other  servants  of  the  Colony ;  to  use  their  influence  in 
promoting  peace  and  harmony ;  and,  finally,  to  execute  any  order 
and  resolves  of  this  Court  to  them  directed." 

On  the  6th  of  October,  the  Continental  Congress,  addressing  the 
committees  of  inspection,  empowered  them  to  arrest  and  secure 
every  person  in  their  opinion  endangering  their  Colony  or  the  lib- 
erties of  America. 

On  the  19th  of  August,  1776,  the  committees  were  directed  by 
the  General  Court,  — 

"  To  take  possession  of  the  personal  and  real  estate  of  persons  who  had, 
in  their  opinion,  fled  to  Boston  —  when  in  the  possession  of  Gen.  Gage  —  in 
the  late  times  of  trouble,  to  secure  themselves,  or  have  joined  our  enemies, 
or  have  withdrawn  themselves  out  of  the  country  with  a  view  to  aid  their 
despotic  measures ;  to  take  and  let  out  such  estates  for  one  year,  making  an 
inventory  of  the  personal  property,  and  returning  it  with  the  rent  of  the  real 
estate  to  the  General  Court;  and  to  return  a  list  of  addressers,  associates,  and 
other  unfriendly  persons  ;  and  also  the  names  and  crimes  of  those  who  have 
fled  to  the  British  fleet  or  army,  together  with  the  evidence  of  facts  against 
such  persons,  unless  they  have  given  proof  of  contrition,  and  made  satisfac- 
tion to  the  public." 


HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  377 

Afterwards,  the  Court  empowered  the  committees  to  "  send  for, 
examine,"  and  at  their  discretion  cite,  any  person  before  a  court  of 
inquiry,  and  to  prosecute  their  complaints  to  final  judgment  and 
execution. 

By  several  resolves  they  were  empowered  "  to  call  together  regi- 
mental and  alarm  lists,  and  the  train-bands  of  their  respective 
towns,  and,  as  some  think,  to  execute  law  martial,  while  others 
think  these  resolves  give  no  power  to  draft  men,  and  refuse  service 
under  them." 

The  General  Court  also  directed  the  committees  to  enforce  the 
Test  Act,  the  embargo  on  provisions,  and  similar  laws  ;  empowered 
them  to  remove  stock,  grain,  and  meal  from  exposed  places,  to 
return  the  names  of  persons  skilled  in  making  "flynts,"  and  to 
regulate  the  price  of  salt. 

In  August,  1776,  they  were  authorized  by  the  Council  to 
see  that  prisoners  of  war  were  kept  within  the  limits  assigned 
them,  to  supervise  their  conduct  in  general,  and  if  they  were 
found  strolling,  were  refractory,  or  refused  to  work,  to  confine  them 
in  jail.  In  the  same  month,  the  Council  exhorted  them  to  exert 
themselves  in  executing  the  laws  and  orders  concerning  the  Tories; 
and,  about  the  same  time,  Congress  enacted  that  none  might  disci- 
pline Tories  or  persons  unfriendly  to  liberty,  except  by  order  of 
Congress,  the  General  Assembly,  Convention,  Council  of  Safety  of 
the  Colony,  or  the  committee  of  inspection  of  the  district  where 
they  resided. 

The  authors  of  the  report,  apparently  somewhat  startled  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  powers  which  had  accumulated  in  the  committees, 
—  personal  liberty,  property,  and  perhaps  even  life  itself,  having 
been  placed  in  their  hands,  —  naturally  urged  that  the  most  discreet 
prudent,  and  firm  persons  should  be  preferred  to  an  office  so  liable 
to  abuse,  and  of  such  vast  importance  if  rightly  administered. 
And  as  the  General  Court,  being  practically  the  only  tribunal  of 
appeal  from  the  action  of  the  committees, l  was  flooded  with  peti- 
tions for  redress,  an  enactment  was  recommended,  authorizing  an 
appeal  —  with  proper  provisions  for  the  immediate  safety  of 
public  interests  —  to  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  as  well  to 
relieve  the  General  Court  from  business  more  properly  belonging 

1  The  action  of  the  committees  rarely  differed  from  what  the  public  sentiment 
of  their  respective  towns  approved ;  and  an  appeal  from  one  to  the  other  was  not 
likely  to  secure  any  very  valuable  result  to  the  appellant. 


378  HISTOBY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

elsewhere  as  to  provide  a  more  easy  and  summary  method  of 
attaining  the  ends  of  justice. 

In  those  counties  where  the  authority  of  the  General  Court  was 
fully  admitted,  the  committees  were  thus  brought  into  subordina- 
tion to  the  ordinary  courts  of  law,  and,  although  an  extraordinary, 
were  not  an  inharmonious  portion  of  the  judicial  system. 

In  Berkshire,  also,  the  committees  zealously  executed  the  rules 
and  orders  which  have  been  quoted,  kept  faithful  watch  and  ward 
against  both  the  internal  and  external  enemies  of  their  country,  and 
rendered  the  best  aid  they  could  give  in  the  collection  of  the  taxes 
levied  by  the  State.  But,  while  they  accepted  and  faithfully  per- 
formed the  duties  assigned  them  by  Congress  and  the  General 
Court,  they  held  that  their  powers  were  derived  from  a  higher 
source,  and  exercised  them  as  well  in  resisting  the  authority  of  the 
General  Court  when  it  conflicted  with  their  paramount  allegiance 
to  the  little  town  democracies,  or  to  the  county  congresses  when 
the  towns  consented  to  delegate  their  sovereignty  to  those  assem- 
blies. Under  the  commission  of  the  town  meetings,  the  com- 
mittees continued  until  1780  to  exercise  the  jurisdiction  which 
had  been  instituted  to  meet  the  necessities  of  1774,  in  maintaining 
public  order  and  restraining  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  as  well  as 
in  guarding  against  and  punishing  the  political  offences  of  the  par- 
tisans either  of  the  king  or  of  the  non-constitutional  civil  adminis- 
tration of  the  State. 

All  the  functions  of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  fell  to  the 
committees,  except  the  control  of  such  matters — the  granting  of 
licenses,  laying-out  of  highways,  and  the  like  —  as  are  now  intrust- 
ed to  the  county  commissioners ;  these  latter  the  towns  managed 
like  ordinary  municipal  affairs. 

It  appears,  also,  that  the  committees  "  interfered  "  in  civil  cases 
which  in  ordinary  times  would  have  gone  to  the  Common  Pleas; 
for  in  1776  the  town,  offended  with  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich  for  his 
adhesion  to  the  obnoxious  State  government,  instructed  them  not 
only  not  to  take  into  consideration  the  action  brought  by  him 
against  certain  young  men  for  taking  "  waterrnillions  "  in  1774,  but 
also  "not  to  intermeddle  in  the  affair  between  him  and  Ezra 
Strong  relative  to  their  water-mill." 1 

1  The  suit  of  Charles  Goodrich  against  Ezra  Strong,  John  Strong,  and  War- 
ham  Strong,  in  a  plea  wherein  the  said  Goodrich  demands  one-quarter  of  a  corn- 
mill  standing  on  a  stream  of  water  which  runs  from  the  farm  of  said  Ezra,  was  the 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  379 

"We  have  also  the  evidence,  to  the  same  effect,  of  Hon.  Timothy 
Woodbriclge,  who,  in  his  memorial  of  1776,  pointedly,  and  no 
doubt  with  truth,  alleged  that  "  the  committees  assumed  to  them- 
selves jurisdiction  in  civil  as  well  as  criminal  cases." 

The  committee  alluded  to  in  the  Goodrich  case  was  probably  the 
board  of  arbitrators  before  mentioned.  How  long  that  board  con- 
tinued in  existence  we  are  not  informed. 

There  is  nothing,  however,  to  show  by  what  process  civil  cases 
were  brought  before  the  Pittsfield  committees,  nor  by  what  rules 
of  practice,  or  formalities  of  any  kind,  it  guarded  the  exercise  of 
its  functions  as  a  court  of  civil  jurisdiction.  And  there  is  little  to 
idicate  of  what  classes  of  suits  it  consented  to  take  cognizance,  or 
whether  it  refused  its  intervention  in  any,  save  when  the  parties 
had  outlawed  themselves  by  adherence  to  the  king,  or  by  siding 
with  the  State  against  the  committees.  The  Goodrich  case,  before 
cited,  shows  that  refusal  of  protection  in  person  or  property  was 
considered  a  legitimate  mode  of  punishing  political  maleficence.1 
Protection  to  the  rights  of  property,  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
obligations  of  contracts,  must  have  forced  themselves  upon  the 
attention  of  the  Revolutionary  committees,  as  duties  inevitably 
devolving  upon  those  who  seized  the  reins  of  government,  and 
only  to  be  postponed  while  the  suspension  of  the  courts  was 
expected  to  be  of  brief  duration.  They  did  not,  nevertheless,  so 
far  as  we  have  information,  take  it  upon  themselves,  like  the  Courts 
of  Common  Pleas,  to  compel  the  performance  of  obligations 
between  man  and  man  as  such ;  but  punished  their  violations  as 
misdemeanors  detrimental  to  the  public  interests,  with  whose  care 
they  were  charged. 

Obloquy  would  have  surely  fallen,  both  upon  the  obstruction  of 
the  courts  and  upon  the  party  by  which  they  were  obstructed, 
if  any  had  been  permitted  to  pervert  that  measure  to  ends 
obviously  selfish  and  unjust;  and  he  who  attempted  to  do  so  ren- 
dered himself  amenable  to  the  inspection  of  the  committees. 

With  this  view  of  their  duties,  these  tribunals  would  aim  at  sub- 
second  on  the  docket  at  the  re-opening  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  ;  the  plain- 
tiff being  one  of  the  judges,  although,  of  course,  not  sitting  when  he  was  a  party 
in  the  case.  The  jury  found  for  Goodrich,  and  the  Strongs  appealed ;  but,  appar- 
ently, the  appeal  was  not  sustained,  as  the  case  does  not  again  appear  on  the  Com- 
mon Pleas  docket. 

1  Outlawry,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  then,  and  is  still,  a  part  of  the  pun- 
ishment of  treason  under  British  law. 


380  HISTOKY   OP  PITTSFIELD. 

stantial  justice,  or  what  would  seem  such  to  the  popular  judgment, 
rather  than  at  ,a  strict  application  of  the  law  to  the  evidence. 
Thus  they  would  aid  in  the  collection  of  debts  which  they  con- 
sidered honestly  due,  when  the  debtor  was  able  to  makCpayment, 
and  the  creditor  had  not  outlawed  himself  as  a  public  enemy. 

It  is  very  easy  to  see  that  a  substitute  for  courts  of  law  so  loose 
as  this  was,  even  in  the  hands  of  well-meaning  men,  liable  to  be 
made  the  instrument  of  gross  injustice,  and  sure  to  create  uncer- 
tainty and  confusion  in  business  relations.  That  it  was  so  in  Berk- 
shire was  confessed  in  the  address  to  the  superior  judges,  written 
by  Mr.  Allen,  and  adopted  by  the  county  convention  of  1779,  in 
which  it  is  said,  "  We  always  had  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  law, 
especially  in  times  of  war:  we  feel  the  want  of  a  due  exercise  of 
it,  and  in  many  instances  the  sad  effects  of  not  enjoying  it."  The 
fathers  of  Berkshire  were  by  no  means  insensible  to  nor  unregret- 
ful  of  the  evils  which  they  consented  to  endure  rather  than  sub- 
mit to  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  government  without  basis 
or  limitation. 

In  its  oversight  of  misdemeanors  and  mi  nor  morals,  the  Pittsfield 
Committee  rule  does  not  seem  to  have  fallen  at  all  short  of  the 
General  Sessions  and  magistracy  of  earlier  times.  The  town, 
indeed,  through  this  and  other  agencies,  kept  rather  a  more  strin- 
gent watch  and  ward  than  ever,  both  over  its  own  citizens  and  the 
stranger  that  dwelt  within  its  gates.  In  March,  1777,  it  ordered 
that  "  persons  sixteen  years  old  and  over,  who  profaned  the  sab- 
bath day  by  behaving  indecently  in  the  house  of  God  in  time  of 
public  worship,  or  otherwhere  out  of  doors,  should  be  by  the  tith- 
ing-man,  or  any  other  informing  officer  finding  them  so  doing, 
consented  before  proper  authority  for  trial,  and  punishment  if 
found  guilty."  Children  under  sixteen,  offending  in  the  same  way, 
were  to  be  brought  into  the  "  broad  alley,"  and  there  kept  until 
the  close  of  divine  service.  In  addition  to  this,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen 
was  "  desired  by  the  town  to  speak  aloud  to  such  persons  as  should 
be  found  disorderly  or  asleep  in  the  time  of  divine  service  on  the 
sabbath  day,  and  reprimand  them  for  the  same." 

On  the  12th  of  August,  in  the  same  year,  it  was  voted,  "  that  the 
practice  of  horse-racing  is  attended  with  many  evil  consequences, 
is  productive  of  much  mischief,  and  is  totally  contrary  to  the  sense 
and  approbation  of  this  town  ;  and  that  all  persons  who  shall 
hereafter  encourage,  abet,  or  promote  such  evil  practices  shall  not 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  381 

only  be  held  in  contempt  in  this  town,  but  have  their  names  pub- 
lished as  persons  counteracting  and  opposing  the  advice  of  the 
Honorable  Continental  Congress."  1 

The  soldiers  of  Burgoyne's  army,  who,  when  taken  prisoners, 
were  hired  as  laborers  by  the  citizens,  were  also  objects  of  the  town's 
solicitude  ;  and,  in  August  of  1778,  it  was  "  ordered,  that  if  any  of 
the  foreign  soldiers  that  are  among  us  shall,  after  sunset,  be  seen 
sixty  rods  from  the  houses  in  which  they  respectively  dwell,  they 
shall  be  whipped  at  the  discretion  of  the  committee,  and,  upon  a 
repetition  of  the  offence,  be  committed  to  the  common  jail ; "  and 
"  all  innkeepers  were  forbidden  to  permit  the  said  people  to  tipple 
in  their  houses,  upon  pain  of  the  displeasure  of  the  town."  And 
the  displeasure  of  the  town,  as  then  visited  upon  the  offender,  was 
not  lightly  to  be  challenged. 

The  judicial  affairs  of  Pittsfield  were  thus  administered  until 
October,  1778,  when  the  county  having,  with  unusual  deliberation 
and  emphasis,  again  rejected  the  civil  administration  of  the  State, 
a  more  formal  establishment  for  the  administration  of  justice,  with 
better-defined  rules  of  practice,  was  deemed  advisable ;  and  a  tri- 
bunal was  established  with  all  the  powers  of  the  old  General  Ses- 
sions, Chief-Justice  Williams  of  the  suspended  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  being  placed  at  its  head.  The  action  of  the  town  erecting 
the  new  tribunal  was  so  characteristic,  that  it  is  well  to  here  insert 
the  record  in  full :  — 

MASSACHUSETTS  BAY. 
BERKSHIRE,  ss. 

Whereas  the  county  of  Berkshire,  by  a  great  majority  of  votes,  have 
refused  the  admission  of  the  course  of  law  in  its  usual  form ;  and  whereas 
disorders  of  various  kinds  increase  and  abound  amongst  us,  and  there  being 
no  effectual  way  provided  for  the  prevention  thereof  unless  by  the  interven- 
tion and  exertions  of  particular  towns ;  and  it  being  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  peace  and  good  order  be  maintained  and  supported,  —  it  is  by  this 
town  resolved,  — 

1st.  That  the  Selectmen  and  Constables,  tithingmen,  and  all  town-officers 
annually  chosen  by  towns  in  the  month  of  March,  shall  be  upheld,  supported, 
and  protected  by  this  town  in  the  due  execution  of  their  respective  trusts  as 
by  law  prescribed  and  enjoined  them. 

1  At  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  some  of  the  people  of  Pittsfield  were  addicted 
to  horse-racinj:,  and  had  a  course  near  the  present  Berkshire  Pleasure  Park.  It 
was  suppressed  in  accordance  with  the  Continental  Articles  of  Association,  but  was 
revived  and  flourished  after  peace  was  restored. 


382  HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

2d.  That  Col.  William  Williams,  Dea.  Josiah  Wright,  Capt.  Eli  Root, 
Capt.  William  Francis,  and  William  Barber,  be  a  committee,  under  oath  to  be 
administered  by  the  town  clerk,  to  hear  and  determine  all  breaches  of  peace 
and  misdemeanors  which,  by  the  laws  of  this  State  now  enacted  and  made 
cognizable  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  two  justices  {quorum  wnws),  or  by  the 
the  Court  of  General  Sessions  in  all  those  cases  where  an  appeal  was  by 
said  laws  the  right  of  the  defendant  hi  the  manner  hereafter  mentioned,  to 
wit :  in  all  cases  where  a  justice  of  the  peace  by  the  law  had  the  sole  and 
final  determination  of  the  cause,  the  said  committee  to  have  the  same  power ; 
and,  in  all  cases  where  an  appeal  by  law  was  grantable,  the- second  and  final 
trial  to  be  by  a  jury  of  six  men,  if  requested  by  the  defendant.  The  determi- 
nation of  said  jury  shall  be  final  and  conclusive ;  which  jury  shall  be  formed 
and  impanelled  in  this  manner  :  — 

The  committee  to  nominate  twelve  men,  being  freeholders  in  this  town, 
and  the  defendant  twelve  more ;  out  of  which  number,  six  are  to  be  drawn  by 
the  constable  if  present,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  such  person  as  the  committee 
shall  appoint  for  the  purpose.  And,  in  case  any  person  so  nominated  and 
drawn  shall  neglect  or  not  be  able  to  serve,  the  constable,  or  such  person  as 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  committee,  shall  return  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
bystanders  to  make  up  such  deficiency. 

3d.  That  any  one  of  the  committee  be  empowered  to  administer  <^aths  to 
all  witnesses  who  shall  be  called  before  them,  in  the  usual  form,  and  also  to 
administer  the  following  oath  to  the  jurors  who  may  attend  upon  any  trial  as 
afore  mentioned,  to  wit :  —  • 

"  You  shall  well  and  truly  try,  and  true  deliverance  make  between  the 
people  and  prisoner  now  upon  trial.  So  help  you  God." 

4th.  Whereas,  the  case  of  bastardy  may  be  considered  by  the  committee 
as  cognizable  by  them  by  virtue  of  the  second  resolve,  and  as  this  case  is  ex- 
empt and  distinct  from  all  the  cases  which  may  come  before  them,  it  is  voted, 
that  the  committee  use  their  best  discretion  in  all  matters  of  this  sort  as  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  may  require. 

5th.  That,  in  all  cases  where  by  law  fines  and  mulcts  are  to  be  inflicted  for 
any  offence,  the  said  committee  impose  and  order  such  fines  to  be  paid,  mak- 
ing the  common  and  usual  discount  betwixt  money  as  it  now  passes,  and  as 
it  formerly  passed,  or  as  it  may  be  at  the  time  of  trial ;  and  that,  in  all  cases 
where  imprisonment  is  by  law  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  for  any  offence, 
the  committee  be  empowered  to  inflict  corporeal  punishment  according  to  the 
nature  -of  the  offence,  not  exceeding  thirty-nine  stripes  for  any  offence. 

6th.  That  the  constable  or  constables  for  the  time  being  shall  serve 
and  execute  all  warrants  and  processes  of  said  committee  or  of  either  of  them, 
and  make  due  return  thereof,  and  observe  and  obey  all  such  orders  as  from 
tune  to  time  they  shall  receive  from  the  said 'committee. 

7th.  That  the  said  committee  have  power  to  appoint  a  clerk  to  attend 
them,  and  keep  fair  records  of  all  their  proceedings. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  383 

8th.  That  all  retailers  of  spirituous  liquors  and  all  innholders  be  appro- 
bated by  the  selectmen  of  the  town  and  licensed  by  the  committee,  and  that 
no  persons  be  authorized  or  qualified  to  be  retailers  or  innholders  unless  so 
approbated  and  licensed. 

9th.  That  all  fines  arising  in  consequence  of  the  foregoing  resolves  shall 
be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  town  for  the  use  of  the  town. 

10th.  That  this  town  will  support  and  uphold  the  committee  above  named 
in  the  due  execution  of  the  trust  committed  to  them  by  the  foregoing  articles 
and  resolves. 

llth.  That  when  any  person  shall  be  found  guilty  of  any  offence,  and  shall 
not  forthwith,  after  the  conviction  and  sentence,  pay  the  charges  and  costs  aris- 
ing upon  his  trial  such  as  shall  be  taxed  by  the  committee  agreeable  to  the 
rule  hereafter  given,  the  constable,  by  virtue  of  a  warrant  from  the  committee 
for  that  purpose,  shall  take  and  sell  at  a  public  vendue  so  much  of  his  personal 
effects  as  shall  be  sufficient  to  defray  said  costs,  and  costs  of  sale,  returning 
the  overplus,  if  any  there  be,  to  the  defendant ;  and,  in  case  the  defendant 
hath  not  estate  wherewith  to  pay  and  defray  such  costs,  he  shall  be  disposed 
of  in  service  for  the  payment  of  the  same. 

1 2th.  That  when  it  shall  appear  to  the  committee  that  any  person  com- 
mences a  vexatious  and  malicious  prosecution  against  another,  and  shall  fail 
in  supporting  the  same,  he  shall  be  liable  to  pay  costs  as  aforesaid,  and  to  be 
recovered  in  the  manner  above  prescribed. 

13th.  That  the  committee  above  named  exercise  the  power  and  authority 
wherewith  they  are  hereby  invested  until  the  next  March  meeting,  or  until 
others  shall  be  chosen  in  their  room. 

14th.  That  three  of  the  foregoing  committee  shall  be  a  quorum,  and 
that  no  defendant  shall  in  his  bill  of  charge  be  feed  for  the  attendance  of 
any  greater  number. 

A  table  of  costs  to  be  taxed  by  the  committee  in  such  cases  as  may  come 
before  them :  — 

The  committee  each  per  day 11.  4s.  Qd. 

Warrant 060 

Summons  for  witnesses     .        .        .        .        .         .  030 

Summons  for  jurors 040 

Clerk's  attendance  per  day       .        .        .        .        .  040 

Writ  or  warrant  of  execution  .        .        .        .  060 

Constable  fees,  — 

Service  of  a  warrant 030 

Summons 020 

Travel  from  defendant's  place  of  abode  to  the  place 

of  trial,  per  mile 010 

Attendance  on  a  trial  per  day  .        .        .        .  0  18     0 

Constable's  necessary  assistants  per  day  .        .        .  0180 


384  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Jurors  each  per  day OZ.  18s.  Qd. 

Witnesses'  travel  per  mile 0       1     0 

Attendance  per  day 0180 

Accepted, 

WILLIAM  WILLIAMS,  Per  Order. 

At  a  legal  adjourned  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of 
the  town  of  Pittsfield,  qualified  to  vote  in  town  affairs,  at  the  meeting-house 
in  said  town,  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  October,  1778,  the  foregoing  resolves 

were  read  and  accepted. 

Attest :  JOSIAH  WRIGHT,  Moderator. 

CALEB  STANLEY,  Town  Clerk. 

We  have  no  information  of  any  cases  tried  in  the  town  court 
established  by  the  foregoing  action ;  but  of  the  previous  doings  of 
the  committee  several  instances  are  more  or  less  fully  recorded, 
some  of  which,  in  regard  to  the  Tories,  are  related  in  connection 
with  their  story. 

But  the  most  remarkable  case  was  the  attempt  of  the  town  to 
discipline  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich  for  opposition  to  its  policy  in  the 
matter  of  the  State  government.  The  election  of  this  gentleman 
in  1775  to  the  General  Court,  where  he  was  one  of  those  careful 
to  secure  their  own  appointment  to  civil  office,  has  already  been 
mentioned.  Capt.  Israel  Dickinson,  elected  high  sheriff  at  the 
same  time,  declined  to  serve  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  received  their  favor ;  but  Goodrich,  who  was  elevated  to  the 
populous  bench  of  the  General  Sessions,  clung  to  his  commission, 
although  the  court  was  not  permitted  to  sit.  The  consequence 
was,  that  in  June,  1776,  the  town  forbade  him  longer  to  represent 
them ;  to  which  he,  paid  no  attention.  In  February,  they  made 
against  him  the  mild  decree  of  outlawry,  in  connection  with  his 
lawsuits  already  alluded  to ;  and,  in  May,  they  expressed  by  resolu- 
tion their  opposition  to  his  "  sustaining  a  civil  commission,"  and 
instructed  their  committee  to  petition  the  General  Court  that  the 
people  might  have  the  right  of  nomination,  i.e.,  the  right  to 
choose  their  own  magistrates. 

Thus  far  the  town  record :  but,  at  the  September  session  of  the 
Court,  Capt.  Goodrich  presented  a  memorial,  in  which  he  related 
the  story  of  his  wrongs  so  piteously  that  they  might  have  moved 
hearts  less  disposed  to  sympathy  than  those  to  which  he  appealed  ; 
declaring,  that,  on  the  25th  of  March,  the  town  committee 
assumed  the  power  to  hear,  judge,  and  assess  both  private  and 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  385 

public  damages  against  him,  for  defending  himself  with  blows 
when  previously  assaulted  by  one  James  Morey,  who  was  proba- 
bly engaged  in  executing  some  process  of  the  committee,  and 
that,  in  the  course  of  the  affair,  he 'was  forcibly  dragged  out  of  his 
house,  and  carried,  late  at  night,  before  the  committees,  by  a  num- 
ber of  men  claiming  to  act  under  their  authority,  and  there 
detained  until  he  gave  a  written  agreement  to  pay  the  adjudged 
damages  and  costs ;  that,  upon  a  late  raising  of  every  twenty-fifth 
man,  he  was  informed,  by  report  only,  that  he  was  ordered  by  the 
commissioned  officers  of  Pittsfield  either  to  serve  as  a  drafted  man 
or  furnish  a  substitute  ;  and  that  afterwards,  being  cited  to  appear 
before  the  committee  to  answer  to  a  complaint  not  specified,  he 
neglected  to  do  so,  supposing  himself  not  bound  thereto  either  in 
law,  equity,  or  common  prudence ;  whereupon  he  found  his  name 
included  in  a  list  given  to  John  Graves,  a  notorious  Tory,  as 
one  of  those  persons  inimical  to  his  country,  with  whom  he  was 
forbidden  to  hold  intercourse ;  and  also  published,  with  a  similar 
charge,  in  "  The  Hartford  Courant"  of  Sept.  2,.1776. 

Capt.  Goodrich  did  not  directly  ask  for  redress  in  the  matter  of 
the  costs  and  damages,  but  stated,  that,  in  the  publications  named, 
his  character  had  been  "  maliciously  stabbed,"  and  would  suffer, 
until  an  impartial  hearing  could  be  had;  and,  the  civil  affairs 
of  the  county  being  so  nearly  in  a  state  of  nature  that  he  could 
not  then  have  such  protection  as  society  was  instituted  to  give,  he 
prayed  the  interposition  of  the  legislature. 

The  committee  having  made  answer  to  this  complaint,  the  Coun- 
cil found  that  the  principal  reasons  which  they  alleged  for  their 
proceedings  against  the  memorialist  were,  that  "  he  had  procured 
himself  a  commission,  in  the  king's  name,  to  exercise  authority 
over  the  people  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,"  which  they  seem  to  have 
considered  as  "  submitting  to  the  British  authority ; "  his  not  pay- 
ing proper  attention  when  he  was  drafted  in  the  alarm-list  to  serve 
in  the  expedition  against  Canada ;  and  his  having  "joined  himself 
with  the  most  ancient  Tories  and  implacable  enemies  among  us." 

This  may  have  been  a  candid  synopsis  of  the  response  from 
Pittsfield ;  but  we  cannot  help  regretting  that  the  paper  had  not 
been  preserved  in  full,  so  that  we  might  have  seen  precisely  how 
the  committee  put  its  defence,  since  it  probably  relied  upon  argu- 
ments which  the  Council  were  fain  to  consider  foreign  to  the  pur- 
pose. Their  Honors,  however,  who  may  almost  be  regarded  as 
25 


386  HISTOBY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

judging  their  own  case  in  that  of  their  appointee,  found  that 
"Capt.  Goodrich  received  his  commission  as  justice  from  the 
major  part  of  the  Council,  of  such  a  tenor  and  form  as  they  judged 
it  proper  to  adopt,  and  such,  as  far  as  they  could  learn,  as  was  agree- 
able to  the  practice  of  the  other  colonies,  and  agreeable  to  the  sen- 
timents of  Congress ;  and  that  the  committee,  therefore,  in  exhibit- 
ing this  charge,  discovered  an  entire  ignorance  of  their  line  of  duty, 
and  great  indecency  towards  the  constituted  authorities  of  the 
State." 

With  regard  to  the  second  charge,  the  Council  excused  Capt. 
Goodrich  on  the  ground  that  he  "  did  not  consider  himself  liable 
to  draft  under  the  law ; "  and-  they  declared  the  allegation  that  he 
consorted  with  Tories  too  general  and  unsupported  by  evidence  to 
merit  attention.  And  finally  they  resolved,  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  House,  "  that  Charles  Goodrich,  Esq.,  ought  not  to  be  stig- 
matized as  an  enemy  to  his  country ;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  consider  him  a  friend  to  the  rights  of  mankind,  and  the  grand 
cause  in  which  thege  United  States  are  at  present  engaged." 

This  result  was  a  natural  one,  as  the  judges  were  the  very 
power  for  sustaining  whose  rightfulness  Capt.  Goodrich  suffered ; 
and  the  justice  of  their  conclusion,  regarded  from  their  stand-point, 
was  indisputable.  Nor  will  any  one  at  this  day  be  inclined  to 
doubt  the  sincere  patriotism  of  the  accused.  We  need  not  again 
recapitulate  the  reasons  which  inclined  the  Berkshire  constitution- 
alists to  place  a  different  estimate  upon  his  character.  Political 
rancor,  and  perhaps  personal  dislike  as  well,  gave  them  a  weight 
which  the  calmness  of  after  years  denies. 

If  the  action  of  the  General  Court  had  any  effect  in  Pittsfield,  it 
certainly  was  not  in  the  direction  of  favor  to  their  client :  for  on  the 
15th  of  October,  in  defiance  of  the  legislative  decision  in  the  pre- 
vious month,  Capt.  Goodrich  was  again  summoned  to  attend  the 
town  meeting ;  and,  not  responding,  six  men  were  sent  to  "  desire 
him  to  come,  and,  should  he  still  refuse,  to  bring  him  forth." 
What  the  success  of  this  expedition  was,  is  not  related.  Very 
likely  the  stout-hearted  old  pioneer,  who  in  the  French  war  had 
transformed  his  house  into  a  castle,  now  made  his  defence  so  for- 
midable as  to  suggest  delay  in  "  bringing  him  forth."  The  meet- 
ing ordered  a  guard  at  his  residence  that  night,  and,  after  thanking 
the  gentlemen  from  Lenox  —  the  committee  of  that  town — for 
their  attendance,  adjourned  to  the  19th.  No  mention  is  made  of 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  387 

the  presence  of  the  defendant  on 'that  day;  but  the  witnesses  were 
examined,  and  it  was  resolved,  "  that  it  appeared  from  their  evi- 
dence, that  Capt.  Goodrich,  in  his  late  conduct,  had  acted  inimical 
to  the  cause  of  these  States." 

An  "  advertisement "  was  offered  by  the  committee,  and  approved 
by  the  town.  And  thus  the  quarrel  continued  to  be  waged  in  "  The 
Hartford  Courant ; "  for  the  assailed  was  not  one  to  suffer  in 
silence  what  he  considered  a  wrong. 

But  at  Christmas,  1778,  the  lucky  thought  —  inspired,  perhaps, 
by  the  season  consecrated  to  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  among 
men  —  occurred  to  some  sensible  fellow  to  get  the  controversy  ter- 
minated by  arbitration.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1779,  the  plan 
was  adopted,  and  the  following  gentlemen,  all  eminent  for  integrity 
and  good  sense,  were  selected  as  referees :  Col.  Job  S afford  of 
Cheshire,  Col.  William  Whiting  of  Great  Barrington,  and  Gen. 
John  Fellows  of  Sheffield ;  with  James  Harris,  Esq.,  of  Lanes- 
borough,  to  fill  the  place  of  either  of  those  first  named  who  might 
fail  to  serve. 

One  of  the  conditions  of  the  reference  was,  that  the  party  which 
was  found  to  have  wronged  the  other  should  pay  the  costs  of 
arbitration. 

The  arbitrators  met  at  Col.  Easton's  tavern  on  the  8th  of  January ; 
all  the  gentlemen  named,  including  Mr.  Harris,  being  present. 
Valentine  Rathbun,  Capt.  James  Noble,  and  Deacon  Josiah 
Wright  managed  the  case  for  the  town.  •"After  due  investiga- 
tion," says  the  award,  it  was  decided  that  the  parties  had  mutu- 
ally wronged  each  other ;  but  that  as,  on  the  whole,  Capt.  Goodrich 
had  been  the  worst  aggressor,  he  should  be  adjudged  to  pay  the 
entire  costs,  which  were  taxed  at  £35.  9s.  6<#."  This  decision  practi- 
cally recognized  the  rightfulness  of  the  Berkshire  opposition  to  the 
existing  State  government ;  for  otherwise  Capt.  Goodrich  would 
have  been  entirely  justified,  the  town  entirely  in  the  wrong. 
While  admitting  the  right  of  the  county  to  oppose  the  non-con- 
stitutional civil  administration,  the  coincident  right  to  enforce  that 
opposition  followed  of  necessity ;  and  the  only  ground  of  com- , 
plaint  which  remained  to  Capt.  Goodrich  was  the  unjust  imputation  j 
upon  his  character  as  a  patriot.  The  publications  on  behalf  of 
the  town  in  "  The  Hartford  Courant,"  so  far  as  they  related  to  his 
case,  were  not  only  unjust,  but  disingenuous,  weak,  and  quibbling; 
placing  the  defence  of  the  committee's  action  upon  the  lack  of 


388  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

unessential  formalities  on  the  parl  of  the  legislature,  and  denying 
statements  which  the  writers  well  knew  to  be  substantially  correct, 
because  their  allegations  were  made  without  technical  precision. 
The  style  of  composition,  the  logic,  and  the  spirit  of  the  committee's 
articles,  all  show  that  minds  were  engaged  in  the  management  of 
the  case  of  a  very  different  cast  from  those  whose  arguments, 
clearly  stated,  and  founded  upon  great  principles,  have  been  quoted 
in  our  discussion  of  the  Berkshire  troubles. 

The  result  of  the  arbitration  was  acquiesced  in  by  both  parties, 
apparently  without  objection;  and  the  reconciliation  which  fol- 
lowed was  cordial.  Capt.  Goodrich  received  honorable  trusts  from 
the  next  and  following  town  meetings,  and  lived  long,  a  respected 
citizen  of  the  town.  From  1781  to  1788,  he  was  a  judge  of  the 
county  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  Thirty-three  years  after  the 
termination,  in  1778,  of  his  political  vexations,  he  held  the  plough 
at  the  first  cattle-show  of  the  Berkshire  Agricultural  Society.  In 
1815,  he  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  and  lies  buried  in  the  Pitts- 
field  cemetery. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE   SHAYS    REBELLION. 
1781-1786. 

Its  Causes.' — Taxes. — Private  Debts.  —  Harsh  Laws  and  Customs.  —  County 
Conventions.  —  Popular  Outbreaks.  —  Organized  Rebellion.  —  The  Peculiar 
Course  of  Berkshire  County.  —  Convention  at  Lenox.  —  Courts  obstructed  at 
Great  Barrington.  —  Gen.  Lincoln  establishes  Headquarters  at  Pittsfield.  — 
The  Rebellion  suppressed. 

THE  Constitution  of  1780  was  not  permitted  to  have  a  fair  trial 
before  it  was  assailed  by  an  opposition  which,  in  1786,  culmi- 
nated in  the  Shays  Rebellion,  —  a  popular  convulsion  which, 
although  some  of  its  features  gave  it  a  vraisemblance  to  the  Berk- 
shire troubles  of  1775-80,  essentially  differed  from  them  in  princi- 
ple and  character ;  the  earlier  agitation  having,  in  behalf  of 
constitutional  liberty,  resisted  the  imposition  of  a  government 
without  basis  or  limitation,  while  the  latter  sought,  by  force  of 
arms,  to  reform  real  or  supposed  grievances,  for  which  the  Con- 
stitution just  established  by  the  people  provided  a  sufficient 
remedy  through  ordinary  legislation. 

The  one  movement  was  an  attempted  imitation  of  the  other  by 
men  who  entirely  mistook  its  spirit  and  justification,  or  by  dema- 
gogues who  took  advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  others.  But  the 
resemblance  of  the  two  in  some  non-essentials,  together  with  their 
proximity  in  time,  will  only  serve  to  throw  into  stronger  relief 
their  intrinsic  dissimilarity  of  character. 

The  popular  ferment  which  prompted  the  Shays  Rebellion  had 
its  origin  chiefly  in  the  circumstances  of  the  Commonwealth  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  with  regard  to  public  and  private  indebted- 
ness ;  aggravated  by  the  harshness  with  which,  by  law  and  custom, 
debts  and  taxes  were  at  that  time  collected.  The  acts  in  which 

389 


390  HISIORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

that  Deling  manifested  itself  were  the  result  of  a  false  interpreta- 
tion of  precedent,  and  of  the  crude  political  knowledge  of  men 
who  perceived  clearly  —  what  the  experience  of  every  day  taught 
them  —  that  they  and  their  fellows  were  harshly  dealt  with,  but 
who  had  not  learned  to  trace  effects  to  their  causes  with  states- 
manlike sagacity,  and  who  did  not  comprehend  that  the  same 
means  which,  in  default  of  better,  are  legitimate  for  the  overthrow 
of  an  oppressive  government,  become  heinous  offences  when  ap- 
plied to  the  reform  of  even  oppressive  laws  under  the  plastic  insti- 
tutions of  a  republic. 

The  financial  situation  of  the  Commonwealth  was  indeed  most 
distressing,  and  such  as,  even  in  the  most  hopeful  view,  could 
find  no  perfect  relief,  except  in  long  years  of  toil,  endured  by  its 
people  under  the  depressing  influences  of  debt  and  enormous  taxa- 
tion. It  seemed  inevitable  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  genera- 
tion then  living  must  go  down  to  their  graves  in  poverty,  leaving 
the  same  bitter  heritage  to  their  children. 

The  debt  of  the  State,  contracted  in  its  own  name,  was  $4,333,- 
000,  exclusive  of  $833,000  due  to  the  officers  of  the  Massachusetts 
contingent  in  the  army,  which  was  as  just  a  liability,  to  say  the 
least,  as  any  other.  The  Commonwealth's  proportion  of  the  na- 
tional debt,  for  which,  under  the  Confederation,  it  was  specifically 
responsible,  was  not  less  than  $5,000,000 ;  making  an  aggregate  of 
considerably  over  $10,000,000. 

Besides  this,  every  town  was  heavily  indebted  for  money  ex- 
pended in  local  exigencies,  such  as  filling  quotas  of  men,  demands 
for  military  supplies,  &c.  The  payment  of  the  interest  alone  upon 
this  crushing  accumulation  of  liabilities  was  an  undertaking  which 
might  well  have  daunted  the  financiers  of  the  impoverished  State, 
even  at  a  time  of  happier  promise  for  the  future ;  but  the  unwise 
impatience  of  the  people,  dissatisfied  with  paying  interest,  which 
was  compared  with  a  canker  which  consumed  their  substance 
without  lessening  their  burdens,  led  to  the  imposition  in  1784  of 
a  tax  of  $466,000,  and  in  1786  of  $333,000  additional,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sinking  that  amount  of  the  army  debt. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  all  the  taxes  were  soon  found  to 
be  largely  and  hopelessly  in  arrears,  notwithstanding  the  deprecia- 
tion of  the  certificates  of  indebtedness  issued  by  the  State  treasury, 
which  were  made  receivable  for  them. 

But  the  tax-gatherer  was  not  the  only  unwelcome  visitor  that 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  391 

was  wont  to  haunt  the  doors  of  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  in 
those  unhappy  days:  the  tap  of  the  sheriff  or  the  constable  was  no 
less  familiar.  Private  debts  which  had,  for  various  reasons,  been 
postponed  during  the  war,  had  accumulated  fearfully,  and  a  mania 
for  bringing  suits  upon  them  seemed  to  possess  creditors ;  so  that 
the  courts  were  fairly  clogged  with  business. 

No  condition  of  things  could  have  been  imagined  more  unfavor- 
able to  the  imposition  of  heavy  taxes,  and  the  collection  of  long- 
standing debts,  than  that  which  then  existed  in  Massachusetts.  A 
paralysis  seemed  to  have  struck  the  young  vigor  of  the  Common- 
wealth, for  whose  cure  time,  and  a  process  quite  other  than  deple- 
tion, were  required.  The  febrile  symptoms  which  manifested 
themselves  everywhere  were  the  pure  results  of  exhaustion. 

The  sanctity  of  property  and  the  obligations  of  contracts  had 
become  impaired,  not  from  the  license  of  the  people,  nor  because 
courts  were  obstructed  in  Berkshire  or  elsewhere,  but  from  the 
unsettling  of  values  through  the  excessive,  however  unavoidable, 
emission  of  paper  money,  and  from  the  legislation  which  vainly 
attempted  to  sustain  its  credit.  Gold  and  silver  had,  long  before 
the  -war  closed,  disappeared  as  a  circulating  medium;  and  the 
faith  of  the  nation,  which  has  since  been  found  to  furnish  a  not 
entirely  inadequate  substitute,  was  without  the  basis  to  do  so 
then.  The  Continental  currency,  despite  the  exhausting  efforts 
of  Massachusetts  to  redeem  her  proportion  of  it,  was  fast  sinking 
to  an  unappreciable  value,  and  encumbered  rather  than  facilitated 
the  course  of  trade,  until  the  only  practicable  relief  was  found  in 
the  formal  recognition  of  its  entire  worthlessness. 

Under  circumstances  of  such  overwhelming  depression,  manu- 
factures, which,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  war,  had  attained  a 
somewhat  vigorous  growth,  now  languished ;  the  fisheries,  fearfully 
narrowed  in  their  markets,  ceased  to  be  that  source  of  wealth 
which  had  enriched  the  Province ;  agriculture  afforded  but  a 
scanty  subsistence  to  farmers  without  the  means  of  improving  or 
stocking  their  lands,  which  were,  indeed,  in  many  cases,  hopelessly 
mortgaged ;  while  commerce  had  come  to  be  little  more  than  the 
means  of  draining  what  little  of  hoarded  treasure  yet  remained  in 
the  State  in  payment  for  goods  imported  from  markets  which  re- 
quired few  of  the  productions  of  Massachusetts  in  return. 

We  should  fail  to  complete  the  picture  of  desolation  without 
adding,  that  thriftless  habits  acquired  in  camp-life  found  little  in 


392  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  condition  of  things  at  home  to  stimulate  or  encourage  reforma- 
tion, and  that  intemperance  prevailed  to  an  extent  which  had 
never  before  been  known,  nor  has  been  since. 

Other  results  incident  to  a  long  and  costly  war  conspired  to 
inflame  the  discontent  of  the  masses.  Those  who  had  served  the 
great  cause  most  faithfully  had  generally  become  impoverished, 
while  men  who  deserved  little  had  grown  wealthy,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  had  invested  what  they  had  gained  from  the  necessities 
of  their  country  in  something  more  substantial  than  the  worthless 
paper  which  clogged  the  knapsack  of  the  returning  soldier  and 
the  hoard  of  the  rural  patriot. 

In  Boston,  Salem,  Newburyport,  and  other  large  towns,  the  osten- 
tatious display  of  wealth  and  luxury  by  men  of  this  class  by  suc- 
cessful naval  adventures,  and  by  others  whom  chance  had  favored 
in  the  general  wreck,  contrasted  harshly  with  the  struggling  pov- 
erty of  those  whose  long  years  of  exposure  and  suffering  had  been 
cheered  by  the  hope  of  a  recompense  very  different  from  that  which 
they  received. 

It  may  perhaps  be  pardoned  to  these  latter,  that  some  of  them 
did  not  trace  the  causes  of  their  disappointment  with  the  nicety, 
or  seek  a  remedy  for  it  with  the  calm  sagacity,  of  philosophers. 
They  had  left  men  at  home  charged  with  the  care  of  these  things ; 
and  their  wisdom  seemed  almost  as  much  confounded  by  the  mis- 
erable entanglement  of  affairs  as  was  their  own  ;  although  it  soon 
began  to  manifest  itself  in  legislation  which  gradually  brought, 
not  only  safety,  but  prosperity  and  harmony,  to  the  Commonwealth. 

Few  are  fully  aware  of  the  vast  miseries  which  have  been  alle- 
viated, and  fewer  still  comprehend  the  measure  of  strength  and 
stability  which  has  been  added  to  the  State  during  the  past 
seventy-five  years,  by  the  tender  regard  shown  for  the  poor  and 
unfortunate,  even  more  in  the  amelioration  of  laws  and  customs 
than  in  the  institutions  provided  for  the  direct  relief  of  suffering. 

When  the  Constitution  of  1780  went  into  effect,  the  legal  hard- 
ships of  the  poor  were  sxich  as  required  years  of  liberal  legislation 
for  their  relief;  and  how  difficult  it  was  to  procure  that  legislation, 
the  Pittsfield  reader  may  learn  by  examination  of  the  files  of  "  The 
Sun,"  which  for  years  was  filled  with  pleadings  for  the  abolition 
or  mitigation  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  by  arguments  which, 
although  they  seem  simple  enough  now,  were  persistently  resisted 
then. 


HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  393 

The  Laws  in  force,  and  the  customs  universally  in  vogue,  for  the 
collection  of  debts  and  taxes,  were  cruel  and  irrational  to  a  degree 
which  almost  passes  belief;  and  they  were  carried  out  with  less 
compunction  than  is  now  often  wasted  upon  the  fate  of  the  most 
worthless  criminal.  Imprisonment  for  debt  had  no  alleviation  ; 
and  the  sole  remedy  devised  for  inability  to  pay  was  enforced 
idleness.  The  prison-doors  closed  more  remorselessly  upon  the 
poor  debtor  than  upon  the  thief  or  the  incendiary ;  for  while  bail 
or  pardon  might  obtain  the  enlargement  of  the  former,  whose  con- 
finement at  the  worst  had  a  fixed  duration,  no  laws  for  his  relief 
opened  the  prison-door  of  the  latter,  or  fixed  a  period  to  his  incar- 
ceration within  walls  where  too  little  regard  was  had  to  health, 
comfort,  or  decency.  His  only  hope  —  and  a  long-deferred  one  it 
often  proved  —  was  that  his  creditor  might  at  last  despair  of  ex- 
torting payment  from  the  pity  of  his  friends,  or  that  his  resent- 
ment might  finally  exhaust  itself. 

There  are  many  yet  living  who  remember  how  their  young  eyes 
were  shocked  by  the  gaunt  forms,  long,  unkempt  hair,  grizzly  beard, 
and  claw- like  hands,  of  men  who,  with  sunken  eyes,  peered  from 
behind  grated  windows,  where  they  had  lain  for  years,  guilty  of 
no  worse  crime  than  the  incurring  of  a  trifling  debt,  which,  per- 
haps, some  unforeseen  political  or  commercial  convulsion  had 
rendered  them  unable  to  pay;  and,  in  1786,  not  a  few  of  these 
poor  creatures,  blue  with  prison  mould,  were  those  who  had  fought 
long  for  freedom,  and  were  still  largely  the  creditors  of  the  country 
whose  laws  made  them  the  tenants  of  a  debtor's  jail. 

But  if,  by  chance,  the  poor  man  escaped  a  prison,  and,  despairing 
of  a  livelihood  in  his  native  place,  sought  it  elsewhere,  he  was 
pretty  sure  to  be  met  at  the  threshold  of  his  land  of  promise  by 
some  such  welcome  as  the  following  warrant,  which  we  copy  from 
the  Pittsfield  town-records,  where  the  like  are  thickly  scat- 
tered :  — 

BERKSHIRE,  ss. 

To  the  Constables  of  the  Town  of  Pittsfield  in  the  County  of  Berkshire,  or  either  of  them, 

greeting. 

Whereas  it  has  been  represented  to  us  that  Elisha  Eggleston,  his  wife  and 
family ;  John  French,  his  wife  and  family ;  Calvin  Dunham,  his  wife  and 
family,  —  are  likely  to  become  burdensome  and  chargeable  to  the  town  if  they 
continue  their  residence  in  it,  these  are  therefore  to  authorize  and  require 
you  forthwith  to  warn  and  notify  the  above-named  persons  that  they,  with 


394  HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

their  families,  immediately  depart  and  remove  out  of  the  town,  and  not  to 
return  again,  without  giving  security  to  the  town. 

Given  under  our  hands  this  22d  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini  1782. 

WOODBRIDGE   LlTTLE, 

DAVID  BUSH, 
STEPHEN  CROFOOT, 
JAMES  DN.  COLT, 

Selectmen  of  Pittsfield. 

Constable  Stephen  Fowler  returned  service  of  this  warning 
upon  John  and  Calvin  on  the  7th  of  June;  and  doubtless  they, 
their  wives  and  little  ones,  thereupon  resumed  their  weary  pilgrim- 
age; for,  in  default  of  obedience  to  the  warning,  the  hard  law 
required  that  the  delinquents  should  be  passed  from  constable  to 
constable  through  the  intervening  towns,  until  they  reached  that 
of  their  proper  settlement. 

Eggleston  appears  to  have  obtained  a  respite :  but  in  the  more 
dreary  month  of  February,  1784,  he  received  a  similar  warning 
out,  together  with  Isaac  Churchill,  his  wife  and  nine  children; 
Daniel  Wheeler,  his  wife  and  seven  children ;  Deborah  Bun-age, 
alias  Deborah  Lee,  widow ;  Moses  Lee,  and  several  other  unfortu- 
nates, who  were  suspected  of  circumstances  which  rendered  them 
liable  to  become  chargeable  to  the  town.  One  can  well  compre- 
hend that  new-comers,  with  no  other  means  of  support  than  their 
daily  labor,  would  be  less  welcome  in  those  days  of  stagnant  in- 
dustries than  they  had  been  in  the  labor-dearth  of  war-times. 

But  while  the  poor  were  thus  driven  from  pillar  to  post,  and 
from  post  to  pillar,  in  their  struggles  to  better  their  condition,  or 
at  least  "  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door,"  taxation  rested  upon 
them  with  a  weight  which  would  now  be  considered  grossly  dis- 
proportionate ;  and  the  rates  were  exacted  with  a  rigor  which  we 
should  regard  impolitic,  as  well  as  unmerciful. 

Of  all  the  taxes  which  the  circumstances  of  the  State  demanded, 
as  well  as  those  large  additions  which  were  made  without  absolute 
necessity,  one  third  part  was  assessed  upon  the  ratable  polls, 
which  did  not  then  number  more  than  ninety  thousand ;  and  town 
charges  were  defrayed  in  a  similar  manner. 

The  severity  with  which  these  fates  were  collected,  and  the 
readiness  of  the  courts  to  enforce  the  payment  of  debts  due  from 
towns,  are  illustrated  in  a  case  which,  although  it  was  in  some 
respects  extraordinary,  was  far  from  an  extreme  one. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  395 

Rev.  Mr.  Leavitt  of  Charlemont,  a  suspected  Tory  in  politics  and 
Arminian  in  religion,  in  1777,  on  account  of  the  depreciation  of 
the  currency,  refused  to  receive  his  salary  at  the  rate  originally 
agreed  upon ;  and,  after  various  unsuccessful  attempts  at  a  com- 
promise, the  town  voted  to  shut  up  the  meeting-house,  which  was 
done,  the  constable  guarding  it.  Upon  this,  Mr.  Leavitt  betook 
himself  to  a  schoolhouse,  where  he  preached  to  a  few  friendly  fam- 
ilies until  more  peaceful  times,  when  he  sued  the  town  for  his 
whole  arrears  of  salary.  He  was  nonsuited  at  the  Common  Pleas, 
but,  on  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  recovered  £500 ;  which  sum 
was  levied  on  the  property  of  the  inhabitants,  from  many  of 
whom  the  last  cow  was  taken  to  satisfy  the  claim  of  a  minister 
whom  they  believed  both  a  heretic  and  traitor,  for  preaching  ser- 
mons of  which  they  never  heard  a  syllable. 

Add  to  the  picture  we  have  Attempted  in  the  preceding  pages, 
that  which  was  given  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the  onerous  judicial 
system  which  the  Commonwealth  had  inherited  almost  unchanged 
from  the  Province,  and  we  shall  be  able  to  form  some  conception 
of  the  inflammatory  condition  of  Massachusetts  which  developed 
itself  in  the  Shays  Rebellion. 

The  aspect  of  the  general  government  offered  still  less  of  cheer. 
The  shadowy  powers  of  the  Confederation  had  now  reached  that 
extreme  of  tenuity  which  compelled  a  resort  to  the  forlorn  hope  — 
^  glorious  as  it  proved  —  of  the  convention  which  framed  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution.  The  confusion  had  grown  to  be  utter.  National 
credit,  respect,  power,  and  influence  were  rapidly  approaching 
the  vanishing  point.  Congress  could  do  little  to  rescue  either,  and, 
with  very  inadequate  powers  to  resist  invasion,  confessed  itself 
destitute  of  any  to  suppress  internal  insurrection. 

Imposts  upon  foreign  trade,  a  prolific  source  of  wealth  to  national 
treasuries,  proved  of  little  worth,  when,  the  perquisites  of  rival  sea- 
port States,  they  were  imposed  by  conflicting  legislation,  whose  in- 
finitely unwise  attempts  each  to  monopolize  commerce  and  manu- 
factures mutually  ruined  the  interests  it  was  their  object  to  advance. 

The  citizen  of  Massachusetts  who  found  gloom  and  confusion 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth,  if  he  looked  to  the  national 
government  for  relief  was  met  by  absolute  darkness  and  chaos. 
The  boundless  hope  which,  in  the  Colony  times,  had  been  the 
dower  of  every  American  citizen,  now  awaited  a  more  splendid 
resurrection  under  the  Union,  but  no  signs  yet  betokened  the  com- 
ing of  the  dawn. 


396  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Public  affairs,  which  in  their  healthy  condition  exercise  their 
benign  powers  imperceptibly,  become,  in  their  deranged  state,  even 
more  apparently  than  really,  the  cause  of  individual  misfortune  j 
and  governments  are  charged  with  malign  influences  for  which  they 
are  not  justly  responsible.  It  so  happened  in  Massachusetts  at  the 
epoch  of  which  we  write.  There  was  lurking  in  the  minds  of 
the  great  mass  of  those  who  had  returned  poor  from  service  in  the 
Revolution,  the  not  unnatural  thought, "  To  what  purpose  have  our 
blood  and  suffering  secured  the  liberties  of  our  country  if  our  own 
are  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  tax-gatherer,  the  sheriff,  and  the  jailer, 
or  if,  escaping  from  them,  we  are  to  be  the  serfs  of  toil  which  barely 
procures  us  a  scanty  subsistence,  with  a  poorhouse  for  the  hope  of 
our  age  ?  " 

In  this  prevailing  discontent,  there  were  not  wanting  men  willing 
to  make  themselves  leaders.  Of  these,  the  most  prominent  seem 
to  have  been  sincerely  convinced  of  the  justice  of  their  cause, 
but  the  victims  of  an  overweening  conceit  of  their  ability  to  cope 
with  the  most  knotty  problems  of  state,  or  of  that  fanaticism  which 
finds  the  root  of  every  evil  in  the  subject  of  its  morbid  contempla- 
tion. Grievances  were  abundant  enough  and  real  enough ;  but 
the  peculiarity  of  the  malecontent  leaders  was,  that  they  rarely 
fastened  odium  upon  any  thing  which  deserved  it,  never  traced  an 
evil  to  its  true  source,  and  that,  even  before  they  resorted  to  arms, 
the  remedies  which  they  proposed  for  the  undeniable  sufferings  of 
the  people  were  the  veriest  nostrums  of  political  quackery.  Not  one 
of  those  beneficent  measures  by  which  legislation,  beginning  soon 
after,  has  since  removed  all  the  hardships  which  we  have  enume- 
rated, was  so  much  as  hinted  at  by  the  malecontent  conventions ; 
hardly  one  of  these  hardships  was  specified  by  them  in  their  long 
list  of  "grievances."  Their  wrongs  were  as  notional  as  their  rem- 
edies were  pernicious. 

The  leaders  built  their  hopes  upon  a  foundation  which  could 
sustain  no  such  superstructure.  They  had  seen  the  assumption  of 
power  by  county  conventions,  supplemented  by  the  obstruction  of 
the  courts,  twice  crowned  with  success ;  and,  not  comprehending 
the  change  which  had  been  wrought  by  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution in  the  nature  of  the  allegiance  due  from  the  citizen,  they 
undertook  to  pursue  the  course  which  had  in  other  cases  led  to  the* 
desired  ends.  The  Constitution  had,  indeed,  never  been  permitted 
to  long  have  quiet  sway.  As  early  as  1781,  it  was  represented  to 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  397 

the  General  Court,  "that  sundry  persons  in  the  counties  of  Worces- 
ter, Hampshire,  and  Berkshire,  enemies  to  their  country,  were 
endeavoring  to  subvert  the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
poison  the  minds  of  the  good  people  of  the  State."  Commission- 
ers were  sent  into  the  counties  named  to  obtain  evidence  of  the 
treasons  concocting  there. 

Samuel  Ely,  the  leader,  was,  in  the  spring  of  the  next  year,  in- 
dicted for  attempting,  under  the  authority  of  a  convention,  to  pre- 
vent the' session  of  the  Superior  Court  at  Northampton,  confessed, 
and  was  placed  in  jail  at  Springfield,  from  which  he  was  released 
by  a  mob.  The  ringleaders  in  this  affair  were  arrested ;  and,  a  mob 
collecting  to  rescue  them,  the  militia  were  called  out,  and  rallied 
with  spirit  to  the  nufcber  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred.  The  rioters 
were  overawed  when  the  parties  met  on  the  field,  and  the  disturbance 
was  quieted  without  bloodshed.  But  the  Tender  Act,  under  which 
judgment  in  private  suits  was  satisfied  by  neat  cattle  or  other  speci- 
fied articles  at  a  fair  valuation,  followed  so  close  upon  the  uprising, 
that,  not  without  plausibility,  it  was  claimed  as  its  result ;  and  the 
malecontents  were  encouraged  to  look  upon  insurrection  as  a  legiti- 
mate as  well  as  very  effectual  means  of  obtaining  desired  legislation. 
It  was  not,  however,  again  resorted  to  for  four  years. 

The  conventions  continued  to  be  held,  and,  after  1784,  with  in- 
creasing frequency  and  violence  of  agitation.  But,  for  the  most 
part,  they  confined  themselves  to  peaceable  and  lawful  action ;  and, 
however  unwise  their  utterances,  they  were,  in  manner  and  form, 
such  as  are  now  found  to  be  perfectly  consistent  with  the  stability 
of  government.  We  cannot  participate  at  this  day  in  the  horror 
of  the  conservative  historian  of  that,  when  he  affirms  that  the 
conventions  "  undertook  to  censure  and  condemn  the  conduct  of 
the  public  rulers;  that  they  voted  the  Senate  and  judicial  courts 
to  be  grievances,  and  called  for  a  revision  of  the  Constitution."  .The 
conservatives  of  Berkshire  took  a  wiser  view,  met  the  malecontents 
on  their  own  ground,  outreasoned  them,  —  a  not  very  difficult  feat, 
—  and  outvoted  them. 

A  portion  of  the  acts  of  the  Hampshire  and  Worcester  conven- 
tions was,  according  to  Minot,  of  a  less  defensible  character,  in  that 
they  "  attempted  to  collect  a  body  of  men  as  a  general  convention 
[for  the  revision  of  the  Constitution]  which  might  rival  the  legis- 
lature itself." 

The   Constitution  of  1780,  whether  wisely  or  unwisely,  made 


398  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

no  provision  for  its  own  amendment  or  revision  previoiis  to 
the  year  1795,  when  the  sense  of  the  people  was  to  be  taken 
whether  any  were  required.  In  the  modern  view,  the  absence  of 
any  express  authority  in  that  instrument  would  not  be  construed 
to  impair  the  right  of  the  legislature  to  submit  the  question  of  re- 
vision to  the  people  at  any  time ;  but  such  was  not  the  conservative 
opinion  of  1784,  while,  as  Minot  alleges,  the  malecontent  conven- 
tion was  called  with  the  intention  of  subverting  the  existing  Con- 
stitution, without  awaiting  legislative  action.  The  Berkshire  view, 
as  in  other  cases,  coincided  with  the  modern. 

Experience  has  shown,  that,  the  difficulty  inevitably  arising 
from  the  distracted  condition  of  national  affairs  being  obviated  by 
the  Federal  Union,  the  evils  under  which  thePpeople  of  Massachu- 
setts were  suffering  were  all  removable  through  the  medium  of 
ordinary  legislation,  which  would  have  been  hindered  rather  than 
aided  by  any  change  in  the  fundamental  law. 

But,  in  1786,  a  large  portion  of  the  people,  groaning  under  bur- 
dens of  which  they  imperfectly  comprehended  the  nature,  and 
still  more  imperfectly  the  remedy,  impatient  of  the  slow  process 
and  long  results  of  legislative  reforms,  and  suspecting  the  State 
government  of  indifference  to  their  sufferings,  were  eager  for  a 
change  in  those  provisions  in  the  Constitution  which,  as  they  im- 
agined, created  an  aristocratic  element  in  the  government,  by  re- 
moving its  officers  from  the  direct  control  of  their  constituents. 
Inspired  by  this  idea,  a  clamor  was  raised  for  measures  no  less 
radical  than  the  abolition  of  the  Senate,  a  change  in  the  basis  of 
representation,  and  the  dependence  of  all  officers  upon  salaries 
annually  granted. 

Such  were  the  amendments  in  the  Constitution  demanded  by 
a  convention  in  Hampshire  County,  Aug.  22,  1786;  and  the 
reforms  upon  which  they  insisted,  as  within  the  province  of  ordi- 
nary legislation,  were  no  less  radical,  and  most  of  them  no  less 
unwise,  than  those  enumerated.  It  was  asked  that  the  courts  of 
Common  Pleas  and  General  Sessions  should  be  abolished ;  that 
the  General  Court  should  not  sit  at  Boston ; "  to  have  a  bank  emitted 
of  paper  money  subject  to  depreciation,"  l  making  it  a  tender  in  all 

1  A  more  exact  idea  of  this  hopeful  financial  scheme  will  be  found  from  the 
action  of  Conway,  which,  on  the  24th  of  October,  "  instructed  its  representative 
in  the  General  Court  to  use  his  influence  to  have  a  bank  of  paper  currency  emitted 
that  sho'uld  sink  one  penny  a  pound  per  month." — Rev.  C.  B.  Rice,  in  Conway 
Centennial  Address. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  399 

payments  equal  to  gold  and  silver ;  that  the  system  of  imposing 
and  collecting  taxes  should  be  remodelled,  the  fee-table  reduced, 
and  a  general  reform  instituted  in  managing  the  finances  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

They  deprecated  mob  violence,  and  recommended  a  resort  to 
only  constitutional  methods  of  redress,  but  denounced  the  govern- 
ment in  terms,  which,  as  their  opponents  alleged,  led  to  the  violent 
outbreaks  which  commenced  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  the  same 
month,  when  nearly  fifteen  hundred  men  collected  at  Northampton, 
and  prevented  the  session  of  the  court  at  that  place. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  passions  of  a  large  part  of  the  people 
were  so  much  exasperated  by  real  sufferings  and  supposed  grievances, 
that  the  slightest  spark  was  sufficient  to  set  the  interior  counties 
aflame.  The  example  of  the  Hampshire  malecontents  was  followed, 
with  similar  success,  by  their  brethren  in  Worcester  and  Middlesex ; 
while  in  Bristol  they  made  a  formidable  demonstration,  which 
was  only  checked  by  the  spirited  course  of  the  friends  of  order  in 
the  militia. 

The  course  of  the  Berkshire  people  was  peculiar.  The  insur- 
gent leaders  had  evidently  modelled  their  proceedings  upon  those 
of  this  county  previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and 
from  this  circumstance,  as  well  as  from  its  defensible  location,  had 
counted  upon  this  as  their  stronghold.  But  the  six  years',  discus- 
sion of  political  and  constitutional  questions  previous  to  1780  had 
rendered  the  people  here  more  familiar  with  the  great  principles 
of  government,  and  less  liable  to  be  misled  by  false  or  ignorant 
teachers,  than  were  those  of  most  portions  of  the  State.  The  in- 
consistency of  seeking  so  soon  to  overthrow  the  edifice  which 
they  had  erected  at  such  infinite  pains  was  instinctively  felt  by 
those  who  had  been  prominent  in  the  struggles  for  a  Constitution  ; 
and  doubtless  they  were  too  familiar  with  the  evils  attendant 
upon  an  obstruction  of  the  laws  to  .favor  a  light  resort  to  it.  Few 
of  them,  therefore,  were  involved  in  the  Shays  insurrection.  Rev. 
Mr.  Allen,  indeed,  was  so  active  in  his  opposition  as  to  be  the 
special  mark  of  the  rebel  ire,  and  found  it  necessary  to  keep  arms 
in  his  bedroom  as  a  precaution  when  it  was  most  rampart.  His 
earnest  preaching  against  the  sin  of  rebellion  at  this  time  won  him 
many  bitter  and  lifelong  enemies. 

But  the  leading  citizens  of  Berkshire  had  learned  confidence  in 
the  people  and  in  the  flexibility  of  the  laws,  as  well  as  respect  for 


400  HISTOEY  OF   PITTSFIELD. 

constitutional  authority ;  and,  instead  of  leaving  the  convention 
called  in  the  county  to  be  controlled  by  those  who  sought  a 
violent  remedy  for  sufferings  perceptible  alike  to  all,  they  tried 
their  strength  before  the  people,  and  elected  a  majority  of  moderate 
men.  This  was  more  important,  as,  in  the  imperfect  organization 
of  party  politics  which  then  existed,  delegates  were  elected-  by 
the  towns,  and  not,  as  now,  by  sections  of  the  people,  whose 
opinions  alone  they  are  entitled  to  represent.  The  County  con- 
vention then  carried  with  it  something  of  the  authority  of  the 
municipalities  by  which  its  members  were  chosen,  and  often 
instructed ;  and  by  many  its  authority,  as  being  nearer  the  people, 
was  held  paramount  to  that  of  the  legislature,  —  a  heresy  which, 
although  it  deserved  no  respect  from  the  constitutionalists,  was  an 
element  in  the  political  situation  which  it  was  necessary  for  them 
to  take  into  account. 

The  delegates  elected  from  Pittsfield  were  Daniel  Hubbard, 
Thomas  Gold,  and  Major  Oliver  Root. 

Gold  was  a  demagogue,  whose  character  afterwards  came  to  be 
understood  by  the  people.  His  present  escapade  is  described  in 
"  The  Berkshire  Chronicle,"  printed  in  Pittsfield  in  1789,  as  « an 
attempt  to  overthrow  the  present  system  of  law  and  lawyers,  and 
render  the  practitioners  as  bad  as  possible."  The  other  delegates 
were  old  soldiers,  and  men  of  high  character  for  probity  and 
patriotism.  They  were  themselves  in  good  circumstances  for  those 
times,  but  were  deeply  imbued  with  the  insurgent  spirit  through  sym- 
pathy with  the  undeserved  suffei-ings  of  less  fortunate  comrades. 

The  delegates  were  left  uninstructed,  and  were  also  chosen  a 
Committee  of  Correspondence  for  the  town.  The  small  number 
of  citizens  who  at  the  close  of  the  rebellion  were  found  to  have 
been  implicated  in  it,  and  the  known  loyalty  of  most  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  town,  indicate  that  the  untoward  result  of  this 
meeting  was  brought  about  by*  the  activity  of  a  minority,  aided, 
no  doubt,  by  the  apathy  or  indecision  of  others. 

The  convention  met  at  Lenox  during  the  last  week  of  August, 
while  insurrection  was  raging  in  the  lower  counties,  and  pursued 
a  course  peculiar  to  itself,  differing  even  from  that  of  the  people 
of  Boston,  who,  although  showing  an  admirable  spirit  and  a  chari- 
table view  of  the  errors  of  the  insurgents,  while  entreating  them 
to  seek  redress  for  grievances  only  in  a  constitutional  method, 
could  not  truthfully  express  the  same  earnest  desire  for  reform 
which  was  conspicuous  in  the  Berkshire  assembly. 


HISTORY   OF   PITTSFIELD.  401 

The  latter,  says  Minot,  "  explicitly  approved  the  appropriation 
of  the  revenue  arising  from  the  impost  and  excise  duties,  and  the 
grant  of  the  supplementary  funds  to  the  United  States ;  and  they 
manifested  a  decent  and  respectful  regard  towards  the  adminis- 
tration of  government  in  general.  They  disapproved  of  the  plans 
for  establishing  paper  money  and  of  the  Tender  Act.  They 
solemnly  engaged  to  use  their  influence  to  support  the  courts  of 
justice  in  the  exercise  of  their  legal  powers,  and  to  endeavor  to 
quiet  the  agitated  spirits  of  the  people." 

The  wisdom  of  the  Berkshire  conservatives,  in  taking  part  in 
tha  county  convention,  was  apparent  in  its  effects ;  for,  had  that 
body  given  the  warrant  of  its  authority,  even  by  implication, 
to  the  uprising,  hundreds  would  have  joined  the  ranks  of  the  in- 
surgents, who  were  now  rendered  the  friends  of  law  and  order, 
or  at  least  restrained  from  active  participation  in  the  disturbances 
of  the  day. 

It  does  not  appear,  from  the  meagre  report  of  its  proceedings, 
whether  the  convention  gave  countenance  to  any  of  the  preposter- 
ous political  notions  of  the  malecontents :  but  the  contrary  may 
well  be  inferred  from  their  opposition  to  the  Tender  act ;  for  this, 
of  all  the  measures  with  which  it  was  classed,  was  that  least 
liable  to  modern  censure,  and  most  completely  justified  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  day.  At  a  time  when  the  circulating  medium 
had  been  reduced  to  a  point  which  rendered  the  possession  of  any 
considerable  quantity  of  it  impossible  to  men  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances, this  much-maligned  act  simply  provided  that  executions 
should  be  satisfied  by  property  of  a  marketable  kind,  taken  at  a 
fair  valuation,  instead  of  being  sacrificed  under  the  hammer,  with 
a  moral  certainty  that  it  would  be  sold  for  a  tithe  of  its  value, 
perhaps  being  "  bid  in  "  by  the  creditor  for  a  nominal  sum,  through 
the  sheer  inability  of  the  impecunious  neighborhood  to  compete 
with  him.  At  the  worst,  a  small  harm  was  done  to  the  creditor 
by  the  Tender  Act  in  order  to  shield  the  debtor  from  a  very 
grievous  one ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  bankrupt-laws  can  be 
justified  by  those  who  condemn  this  old  measure  of  relief  to  those 
who  would  otherwise  have  suffered  from  the  failure  of  the  Com- 
momwealth  to  provide  a  sufficient  circulating  medium.  Its  repu- 
diation in  the  Berkshire  convention  affords  a  fair  presumption  that 
the  follies  which  were  enunciated  by  the  similar  assembly  in 
Hampshire  were  not  approved. 

26 


402  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  influence  of  the  convention  did  not,  however,  avail  to  save 
the  county  from  participation  in  the  insurrection ;  for  it  had 
hardly  adjourned  before  a  mob  collected  at  Great  Barrington,  and 
not  only  prevented  the  session  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  but 
broke  open  the  jail,  and  released  the  prisoners.  After  which  ex- 
ploit they  by  threats  induced  three  of  the  judges —  among  whom 
was  our  old  friend,  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich,  who  seems  to  have  lost 
somewhat  of  his  inflexibility  —  to  sign  an  agreement  that  they 
would  not  act  under  their  commissions,  until  the  grievances  com- 
plained of  had  been  redressed.  To  the  credit  of  the  fourth  judge, 
Hon.  Elijah  Dwight  of  Great  Barrington,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
rioters,  it  is  related,  that,  upon  his  making  a  manful  resistance,  he 
was  not  compelled  to  sign  the  papers. 

The  mob  was  estimated  at  eight  hundred  men. 

Traditions  of  incidents  which  occurred  in  Pittsfield  and  Lenox 
enable  us  to  understand  how  the  insurgent  forces  were  recruited, 
and  from  what  material.  The  village  orators,  previous  to  court 
day,  gave  out,  either  plainly  or  by  innuendo,  that  the  session  must 
be  prevented ;  and  the  word  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth.  On  the 
evening  preceding  the  appointed  day,  the  disaffected  fanners  in 
the  towns  within  a  convenient  distance,  —  or  perhaps  throughout 
the  county,  —  as  their  men  quitted  work,  said  to  them,  "Well, 
boys,  they  say  there's  to  be  goings-on  at  Barrington  to-morrow ; 
and,  if  you  like,  you  can  have  the  day,  and  take  the  team  and  go 
down."  One  leader  in  Pittsfield  sent  his  two  sons  in  this  way ; 
and  one  in  Lenox,  his  son  and  an  apprentice.  These  were  the  bet- 
ter class  of  the  insurgents ;  but  in  every  town  there  were  then  an 
unusual  number  of  unemployed  men,  ready  for  whatever  excite- 
ment offered,  and  generally  hostile  to  the  government,  which 
they  regarded  as  the  cause  of  their  evil  condition ;  so  that,  be- 
tween those  ready  for  any  mischievous  frolic  and  those  earnestly 
hostile  to  the  courts,  a  boisterous  and  excited  ci'owd  was  easily 
collected,  which  soon  received  the  additional  inflammation  of  strong 
drink ;  and  thus  fitting  instruments  were  ready  to  the  hands  of 
the  designing  leaders,  who  seized  the  opportunity  to  commit  their 
followers  so  deeply  to  the  rebellion  that  retreat  was  difficult. 

Soon  after  the  affair  at  Great  Barrington,  the  insurgents,  who 
had  hitherto  confined  their  opposition  to  the  inferior  courts,  now 
dreading  indictment  by  the  Superior  Court  at  Springfield,  collected 
in  such  numbers  at  that  place,  that,  although  the  court  was  pro- 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  403 

tected  by  six  hundred  militia,  the  confusion  was  such  that  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  adjourn  without  attempting  to  transact  busi- 
ness, after  passing  resolutions  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  proceed 
to  Berkshire. 

When  the  day  fixed  by  law  for  opening  the  court  in  this  county 
came,  the  malecontents,  nevertheless,  assembled  in  considerable 
numbers  at  Great  Barrington,  believing,  or  pretending  to  believe, 
that  the  judges  really  intended  to  sit.-  Of  course  no  court  ap- 
peared :  but  the  crowd  became  extremely  riotous,  and  obliged 
several  persons  obnoxious  to  them  to  take  flight ;  while  armed 
men  pursued  one  gentleman  who  held  a  very  honorable  office, 
searched  private  houses,  and  fired  upon  several  of  the  inhabitants.1 

About  Christmas,  1786,  the  insurrectionary  disturbances  in  the 
lower  counties  assumed  the  form  of  a  pronounced  rebellion. 
Daniel  Shays,  the  renowned  leader  who  clouded  his  fame  as  a 
faithful  captain  in  the  Revolution  for  the  equivocal  honor  of  giv- 
ing his  name  to  an  unnecessary  and  unsuccessful  rebellion,  ap- 
peared first  at  Springfield,  then  at  Worcester  and  elsewhere,  with 
bands  of  armed  men,  of  disorderly  carriage  and  fluctuating  mate- 
rial, but  with  some  sort  of  a  military  organization. 

Gov.  Bowdoin  intrusted  the  restoration  of  order  to  Major- 
Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  with  a  body  of 
over  four  thousand  militia. 

Four  hundred  Berkshire  men,  under  the  leadership  of  Eli  Par- 
sons, were  in  Shays's  army ;  but  we  know  nothing  of  the  recruits 
from  Pittsfield  who  may  have  been  among  them,  and  we  do  not 
purpose  to  chronicle  in  detail  the  operations  of  the  three  months' 
campaign  by  which  the  insurrection  was  suppressed. 

The  spirit  of  the  rebellion  was  broken  on  the  25th  of  January, 
when  Shays,  marching  upon  the  post  of  Gen.  Sheppard  at  the 
Springfield  Arsenal,  was  met  by  a  discharge  of  artillery,  which  sent 
his  men  flying  in  confusion,  crying  "Murder,"  and  leaving  three  of 
their  comrades  dead  upon  the  field.2 

1  History  of  Berkshire. 

2  An  incident  occurred  in  connection  with  this  affair  in  which  a  boy,  afterwards 
a  prominent  citizen  of  Pittsfield,  was  the  hero. 

Major  Solomon  Allen  of  Northampton,  upon  whom  the  command  of  the 
Hampshire  militia,  or  a  portion  of  it,  devolved,  dealt  largely  with  Philadelphia 
drovers ;  and,  when  the  outbreak  occurred,  he  was  in  that  city,  having  with  him 
his  little  son  of  eight  years,  afterwards  Hon.  Phinehas  Allen,  the  founder  of  "  The 


404  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

So  weak  at  heart  was  this  seemingly  formidable  uprising,  that, 
upon  a  check  so  slight  as  this,  the  insurgents  fell  back  from  point 
to  point,  until  they  reached  Petersham.  Here  Gen.  Lincoln,  by  a 
forced  march  of  thirty  miles  in  the  midst  of  a  driving  snow-storm, 
surprised  them ;  and  those  who  escaped  capture  were  scattered. 

Meanwhile  small  bodies  of  the  disaffected  appeared  in  Berkshire, 
with  the  intention  of  creating  a  diversion  in  favor  of  their  brethren, 
and,  as  was  feared,  of  forming  a  rendezvous  upon  the  heights  of 
the  Hoosacs.  As  a  countercheck  to  this  movement,  the  friends 
of  government  formed  a  voluntary  association,  numbering  perhaps 
five  hundred  men,  and  in  slight  encounters  met  with  significant 
success.  Still  the  malecontents,  dispersed  near  Stockbridge,  rallied 
again  at  South  Adams,  and,  on  the  approach  of  the  volunteers, 
scattered  at  that  place  to  collect  again,  and  again  be  dispersed,  at 
Williamstown.  However  unfortunate  in  their  essays,  their  dispo- 
sition to  embody  was  apparent ;  and  it  was  understood  that  a  con- 
siderable number  were  on  their  way  to  Washington  to  join  the 
standard  of  one  Major  Wiley. 

Gen.  Patterson,  commander  of  the  Berkshire  militia,  apprehen- 
sive of  the  results  of  these  movements,  earnestly  entreated 
assistance  from  Lincoln,  who  responded  by  promptly  repairing  to 
Pittsfield  with  two  divisions  of  his  army. 

From  this  point  he  sent  out  parties  in  sleighs,  —  one,  under  the 
adjutant-general,  to  Dal  ton,  where  they  captured  Wiley's  son  and 
six  others,  Wiley  having  fled  ;  one,  under  Capt.  William  Francis, 
to  Williamstown,  where,  after  a  skirmish,  they  captured  fourteen 
prisoners.  The  activity  of  the  troops  drove  into  banishment  or 
concealment  all  those  who  had  been  in  arms  against  the  govern- 
ment in  Northern  Berkshire.  But  the  truculent  Eli  Parsons, 
from  his  hiding-place,  sent  out  an  appeal  to  his  "  friends  and  fellow- 
sufferers"  in  the  lower  counties,  —  a  paper  of  whose  sanguinary 
vein  the  closing  paragraph  may  convey  an  idea  :  — 

"  The  first  step  I  would  recommend  is  to  destroy  Sheppard's  army ;  then 
proceed  to  the  county  of  Berkshire,  as  we  are  now  collecting  in  New  Leba- 

Pittsfield  Sun."     Summoned  home  by  his  military  duties,  Major  Allen  reached 
Springfield  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  defence  of  the  arsenal. 

Here  his  little  son,  clad  in  red  broadcloth,  the  gift  of  his  father's  customers, 

with  whom  he  was  a  pet,  was  seated  on  horseback  in  the  rear  of  the  troops ;  and 

'  when,  on  the  advance  of  the  rebels,  fire  was  opened,  the  little  fellow,  carried  away 

with  excitement,  stretched  himself  up  in  the  saddle,  and  gave  a  ringing  huzza,  to 

the  great  delight  of  the  soldiers,  who  took  up  and  prolonged  the  tiny  cheer. 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  405 

non  in  York  State,  and  Pownal  in  Vermont  State,  with  a  determination  to 
carry  our  point  if  fire,  blood,  and  carnage  will  effect  it :  therefore  we  beg 
that  every  friend  will  immediately  proceed  to  the  county  of  Berkshire,  and 
help  us  to  Burgoyne  Lincoln  and  his  army." 

There  was  more  than  mere  bravado  in  this.  Berkshire,  with 
inaccessible  hills  on  the  east,  and  States  north,  south,  and  west 
upon  whose  soil  the  Massachusetts  militia  might  not  trespass, 
was  surrounded  by  convenient  lurking-places,  of  which  the  rebels 
did  not  neglect  to  avail  themselves,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the 
Commonwealth,  until  the  friendly  action  of  the  sister  States 
relieved  her. 

An  occasion  soon  presented  itself  when  an  incursion  might  have 
been  made  with  almost  assured  success  by  a  small  body  of  deter- 
mined men ;  for  the  new  contingent  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
militia,  whose  term  of  service  expired  on  the  21st  of  February, 
not  arriving  promptly,  Gen.  Lincoln  was  left  at  Pittsfield  with  only 
thirty  soldiers.  The  rebels  were,  happily,  not  informed  correctly  of 
the  moment  so  opportune  for  them ;  and  the  danger  passed.  But, 
on  the  27th,  a  body  of  between  eighty  and  ninety  men,  under 
Capt.  Perez  Hamlin,  entered  the  State  from  New  York,  pillaged 
Stockbridge,  made  prisoners  of  some  of  its  most  respectable 
citizens,  and  proceeded  with  their  prisoners  and  booty  to  Great 
Barrington.  Thence  they  went  towards  Sheffield  in  sleighs  by  a 
back  road.  In  the  mean  time,  Col.  Ashley  of  Sheffield  had  col- 
lected the  loyal  militia  of  that  town,  and,  uniting  with  a  small 
bodyt  who  had  retreated  from  Great  Barrington,  had  a  force  of 
eighty  men. 

With  these  he  met  the  insurgents  near  the  western  boundary  of 
Sheffield ;  and  the  most  severe  encounter  of  the  rebellion  ensued. 
The  insurgents  were  defeated,  with  a  loss  of  two  killed  and  thirty 
wounded,  one  mortally;  and  Capt.  William  Walker  of  Lenox 
coming  up  opportunely  with  re-enforcements,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  prisoners  were  taken.  Of  the  militia,  two  were  killed  and  one 
wounded. 

The  borders  of  Berkshire,  Hampshire,  and  Worcester  remained 
in  a  disturbed  condition  for  some  months ;  but  the  energetic 
co-operation  of  the  neighboring  States,  although  that  of  Ver- 
mont was  somewhat  hesitating  and  tardy,  finally  removed  all 
sources  of  apprehension  from  abroad.  On  the  13th  of  August,  it 
was  considered  safe  to  reduce  the  number  of  troops  to  two  hun- 


406  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

dred ;  and,  on  the  13th  of  September,  the  complete  suppression  of 
the  rebellion  was  announced  by  the  discharge  of  all  the  forces. 

The  wisdom,  moderation,  and  firmness  of  Gov.  Bowdoin  and 
Gen.  Lincoln,  and  the  good  conduct  of  the  forces  under  their 
command,  had  saved,  not  only  the  Commonwealth,  but  the  country, 
from  dangers  which  threatened  disastrous  consequences  whose 
extent  it  was  impossible  to  foresee,  and  had  relieved  a  widespread! 
consternation  of  which  it  is  difficult  now  to  form  an  idea. 

In  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  the  legislature  had  co-oper- 
ated with  the  executive,  on  the  whole,  with  zeal  and  promptitude ; 
although  manifesting  a  natural  repugnance  to  extreme  measures 
against  their  misguided  fellow-citizens.  There  now  remained  the 

O  O 

more  difficult  task  of  re-establishing  order,  and  composing  the 
agitated  minds  of  the  people.  Justice  was  to  be  tempered  with 
mercy  in  such  measure  as  would  not  give  heart  to  new  outbreaks. 
The  majesty  of  the  law  was  to  be  maintained,  but  in  such  manner 
that  there  should  be  not  even  the  semblance  of  a  vindictive  spirit, 
either  in  the  legislature  or  in  the  courts.  Above  all,  the  legislators 
of  the  Commonwealth  were  to  enter  earnestly  upon  the  work  of 
alleviating  the  burdens  and  sufferings  which  had  maddened  so 

O  0  O 

many  of  its  most  patriotic  and  well-intentioned  citizens.  And,  in 
all  this,  it  was  to  be  made  apparent  that  nothing  was  conceded  to 
intimidation,  but  that  all  was  done  through  a  sincere  desire  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  people,  and  a  pure  regard  for  substantial 
justice.  It  is  not  our  province  to  discuss  in  detail  the  measures  by 
which  these  ends  were  sought ;  but  the  wisdom  and  moderation  of 
Massachusetts  legislation  were  never  more  conspicuous  than  in 
their  adoption.  Sufficient  guaranties  were  exacted  for  future  alle- 
giance to  law  and  order ;  but  what  was  deemed  the  minimum  of 
punishment  was  meted  out  for  past  offences.  Six  of  the  insurgent 
prisoners  were  condemned  to  death  in  Berkshire,  six  in  Hampshire, 
and  one  each  in  Worcester  and  Middlesex ;  but  none  suffered  that 
penalty.  Of  the  Berkshire  prisoners,  three  were  pardoned,  —  one 
of  them  Samuel  Rust,  a  Pittsfield  veteran  of  the  Continental  Army, 
—  two  escaped,  and  the  sentence  of  the  sixth  was  commuted  to 
imprisonment  for  seven  years. 

Large  numbers  were,  however,  convicted  of  seditious  words  and 
practices,  many  of  them  persons  of  consequence  in  their  several 
localities.  Among  them  was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  who  was 
sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds,  give  security  for  five 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  407 

years'  good  behavior,  and  sit  on  a  gallows  with  a  rope  around  his 
neck;  all  of  which  sentence  was  carried  out.1 

Those  who  had  participated  in  the  insurrection  were  for  a  time 
disfranchised,  and  excluded  from  the  jury-box;  but  these  disabili- 
ties were  soon  removed,  the  offender  being  merely  required  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance.  Measures  of  reform  in  the  administration 
of  the  laws  and  of  the  finances  were  immediately  entered  upon, 
at  first  with  somewhat  of  the  crudity  of  thought  which  had  pre- 
vailed before  the  insurrection.  But  the  light  soon  began  to  break, 
and  gleams  of  those  beneficent  reforms  which  have  since  prevailed 
began  to  streak  the  horizon.  It  is  not  the  least  among  the  com- 
pensations of  the  rebellion  of  1786,  that  it  directed  the  more 
earnest  thought  of  cultivated  statesmen  to  the  imperfection  of  the 
laws,  and  to  popular  content  as  an  element  in  the  strength  of 
government. 

1  The  unfortunate  legislator  was  Hon.  Moses  Harvey,  senator  from  Hampshire 
Countv. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

PITTSFIELD  IN  THE  SHAYS  REBELLION.  — PAROCHIAL  DIFFICULTIES. 

[1786-1789.] 

Public  Sentiment  of  the  Town.  —  Its  Comparative  Prosperity. — Prominent  Citi- 
zens labor  for  Law  and  Order. — Henry  Van  Schaack  eulogizes  the  Town. 
—  The  Malecontent  Movement  modified  in  Pittsfield.  —  Instructions  to  Repre- 
sentative Childs. — A  Stormy  Town  Meeting.  —  A  Conservative  Re- Action. — 
Military  Occupation  of  the  Town.  —  Anecdote.  —  Parochial  Dissensions.  — 
Reconciliation  effected. — Joshua  Danforth. — Henry  Van  Schaack. 

IN  considering  the  public  sentiment  which  prevailed  in  Pittsfield 
during  the  memorable  commotions  just  related,  nice  discrimi- 
nation is  required.  Tradition  affirms  that  the  great  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  were  averse  to  the  insurrection ;  and,  while  it  is 
certain  that  the  malecontents  more  than  once  controlled  the  town 
meetings,  it  is  equally  clear  that  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  voters 
were,  at  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  found  to  have  been  seriously 
implicated  in  it. 

The  population  of  the  town  was  about  eleven  hundred,  which 
would  represent  at  least  two  hundred  voters ;  but  those  who  are 
recorded  to  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  prescribed  by  the 
legislature  as  a  condition  of  re-enfranchisement  counted  only 
thirty-one,  of  whom  only  eight  are  minuted  as  having  "  turned  in 
their  arms."  Of  these,  some  denied  any  guilty  connection  with  the 
rebellion ;  and  so  slight  was  the  evidence  against  them,  that  many 
were  found  to  credit  their  plea.  On  the  other  hand,  the  names  of 
Thomas  Gold,  and  of  two  or  three  others  known  to  have  been  active 
rebels,  do  not  appear  in  the  list.  But  the  whole  number  of  whom 
the  oath  could  justly  have  been  required  could  hardly  have 
exceeded  forty.  It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  some  who 
had  been  led  by  a  misinterpretation  of  precedents  to  consider  the 

408 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  409 

obstruction  of  courts  as  a  very  venial  offence,  if  not  an  altogether 
justifiable  mode  of  seeking  reforms,  shrank  from  the  extreme 
measure  of  appearing  in  arms  against  the  government,  and  espe- 
cially after  a  "county  congress"  had  expressly  refused  its  sanction 
to  any  but  constitutional  measures  of  redress. 

The  list  of  thirty-one  contains  few  names  familiar  to  us,  except 
those  of  the  delegates  to  the  county  convention ;  and  it  is  to  be 
observed,  that,  with  the  exception  of  Col.  Root  and  Deacon  Hub- 
bard,  not  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  prominent  as  patriots  in 
the  Revolution,  or  who,  as  constitutionalists,  had  resisted  the 
government  of  the  interregnum,  is  known  to  have  favored  the 
insurrection  of  1786 ;  nor.  did  any  one  of  those  implicated  in 
the  Rebellion  ever  afterwards  rise  to  much  political  consequence 
in  the  town. 

There  were  substantial  reasons  why  this  should  be  so.  Pitts- 
field,  although  sharing  in  a  degree  in  the  general  depression  of 
aflhirs,  was  a  thriving  and  prosperous  village,  with  interests  to  be 
dangerously  affected  by  popular  tumults  and  indiscreet  innovations. 
Manufactures  were  springing  up ;  public  improvements  were  antici- 
pated ;  and  possibly  it  may  have  been  suggested  that  the  course 
of  the  town  in  this  emergency  might  influence  the  contest  then 
pending  with  regard  to  new  seats  for  the  county  courts.  Col. 
Joshua  Danforth,  John  Chandler  Williams,  Henry  Van  Schaack, 
and  other  gentlemen  of  influence,  had  recently  removed  to  the 
town,1  and  with  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  Oliver  Wendell  on  his  summer 
visits,  Dr.  Childs,  and  other  eminent  citizens  of  longer  residence, 
united  with  Hon.  Theodore  Sedgwick  and  Judge  Bacon  of  Stock- 
bridge,  Gen.  Patterson  of  Lenox,  and  men  of  like  stamp  through- 
out the  county,  who  at  great  sacrifice  of  personal  comfort,  and 
much  exposure  to  personal  danger  and  indignity,  travelled  from 
town  to  town,  bringing  their  influence  to  bear  in  every  possible 
way  in  favor  of  law  and  order. 

Just  before  the  outbreak,  Major  Van  Schaack  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  brother,  from  which  we  may  be  able  to  extract  a  fair  idea  of 
the  double  aspect  of  the  times : *  — 

"  Here  I  have  made  an  advantageous  purchase,  and  live  in  the  midst  of 
those  who  owe.  I  have  made  some  other  purchases  about  me,  and  I  have  a 

1  See  note  at  end  of  this  chapter. 

2  Life  of  Peter  Van   Schaack,  LL.D.,  by  his  son  Henry  C.  Van   Schaack. 
New  York :  Appleton  &  Co. 


410  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

number  of  mortgages  in  the  neighborhood ;  so  that  I  shall,  in  all  probability, 
be  a  considerable  landholder  in  a  little  tune. 

"  The  farm  I  live  on  I  bought  for  four  hundred  and  seventy-four  pounds 
York  money.  It  contains  eighty-six  acres  good  land,  with  a  tolerably  good 
house,  barn,  and  a  young  orchard,  and  a  pleasant  lake1  in  sight  of  me. 
In  my  lifetime,  I  never  lived  among  a  more  civil,  obliging  people.  During 
my  residence  in  Richmond,2  I  never  was  a  witness  to  swearing,  drunkenness, 
nor  a  breach  of  the  sabbath,  or,  in  short,  any  flagrant  trespass  upon  mo- 
rality. A  purse  of  gold  hung  up  in  the  public  streets  would  be  as  safe  from 
our  inhabitants  as  it  used  to  be  hi  the  great  Alfred's  time.  Beggars  and  va- 
grants we  are  strangers  to,  as  well  as  overbearing,  purse-proud  scoundrels. 
Provisions  we  abound  in :  beef,  veal,  mutton,  and  lamb,  hi  the  spring,  sum- 
mer, and  fall,  we  buy  at  two  pence  lawful 3  per  pound ;  in  winter,  beef  and 
mutton  at  two  and  a  half  and  three  pence  ;  every  thing  else  in  proportion, 
and  very  plenty.  ...  I  have  just  returned  from  Vermont.  I  took  your  son 
Harry  and  F.  Silvester  with  me  in  the  sleigh,  who,  as  well  as  myself,  were 
much  pleased  with  the  jaunt.  ...  In  travelling  sixty-four  miles  and  back 
again,  four  days  out,  lived  extraordinary  well  all  the  time,  and,  among  other 
things,  dined  upon  boiled  turkey  and  oyster-sauce  at  Manchester.  The 
whole  expense  of  our  bill,  while  we  were  out,  horse-keeping  in  the  bargain, 
was  twenty-six  shillings  eight  pence  York  money  apiece.*  Add  to  the  ad- 
vantages of  travelling,  that  your  persons  and  property  on  the  road  and  in  the 
inns  are  perfectly  safe.  Murders,  robberies,  and  burglaries,  or  petty  larce- 
nies, are  scarce  heard  of  in  this  country.  So  perfectly  am  I  satisfied  with 
the  manners,  customs,  and  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  that  I  would  not  ex- 
change them  for  any  other  I  know  of  hi  the  world. 

"  It  will  be  difficult  for  you  to  believe,  at  so  great  a  distance,  that,  imme- 
diately after  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war,  the  new  government  should  have 
force  and  energy,  the  morals  and  religion  of  the  inhabitants  apparently  as 
pure  and  uncorrupt  as  they  were  at  the  best  a  number  of  years  before  the 
late  distractions.  ...  It  is  true  that  the  public  calamities  have  brought 
heavy  burthens ;  but  these  become  lighter,  and  will  be  more  and  more  so 
every  year. 

"  The  epitome  of  human  misery — I  mean  the  civil  war  —  in  this  country 
has  been  accompanied  by  a  failure  of  crops.  ...  If  any  of  your  friends  wish 
to  migrate,  by  way  of  encouragement  you  may  assure  them  that  lands  are 
cheap  and  good  in  Berkshire.  Building  materials  of  every  sort  hi  great 
plenty.  All  that  I  want  in  my  delightful  retreat  is  a  few  people  of  your 
sort  about  me." 

This  picture  is  a  good  deal  rose-tinted  by  Major  Van  Schaack,  a 
prosperous  gentleman  of  steady  income,  who  had  just  saved  from 

1  Melville.  2  Where  Major  Van  Schaack  settled  on  his  first  removal  to 

Berkshire.  8  Lawful  money.  *  $3.25  Federal  money. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  411 

the  dangers  of  civil  war  more  than  he  had  expected  of  his  own 
and  his  paternal  fortune,  who  was  likely  to  be  enriched  by  the 
financial  difficulties  that  impoverished  his  neighbors,  who  had 
secured  a  delightful  estate,  and  was  eulogizing  the  community 
where  even  his  Whig  opponents  had  received  him  with  cordiality 
and  confidence  when  he  was  exiled  by  those  of  his  own  section. 

lie  had,  however,  but  recently  become  a  resident  of  the  town, 
and  there  was  much  in  it  writh  which  he  had  not  yet  come  in 
contact.  The  Arcadian  innocence  which  he  paints  so  glowingly 
must  be  accepted,  as  a  portrait,  only  with  many  grains  of  allow- 
ance. And  the  rich  colors  in  which  he  depicts  the  physical  com- 
forts of  his  home  were  sadly  obscured  to  those  of  his  neighbors 
who  "  owed ; "  to  the  mortgagers,  who  saw  little  in  the  times  to 
encourage  the  hope  of  their  becoming  or  remaining  "  considerable 
landholders;"  to  the  farmers,  who  found  that  it  took  a  great  deal 
of  mutton  at  two  pence  a  pound  to  pay  such  taxes  as  were  levied 
upon  them  in  order  to  "  lighten  the  burthens  "  imposed  by  "  the 
late  public  calamities."  However  it  might  be  with  some  indi- 
viduals, the  masses  of  community  could  hardly  felicitate  themselves 
upon  low  prices,  the  result  of  insufficient  markets  and  of  a  cir- 
culating medium  utterly  incapable  of  meeting  the  ordinary  require- 
ments of  traffic. 

Pittsfield,  with  a  strong  conservative  element  in  its  population, 
and  with  flourishing  material  interests  which  forbade  it  to  favor 
rebellion,  had  thus  also  a  large  class,  especially  among  its  farmers, 
of  men  embarrassed,  not  only  by  the  financial  difficulties  of  the 
time,  but  by  a  succession  of  bad  crops. 

But  there  were  also  many,  who,  with  no  desire  to  overthrow  the 
government,  were  painfully  sensitive  to  the  sufferings  of  the  people, 
and  sincerely  believed  that  the  legislature  was  criminally  remiss 
iu  postponing  the  radical  remedies  which  they  deemed  indispen- 
sable, who  reiterated  the  complaints  which  had  become  chronic, 
if  not  morbid,  in  Berkshire,  of  the  cumbrous  and  costly  system 
of  judiciary,  and  who  perhaps  joined  in  the  charge  that  the  counties 
of  Plampshire  and  Berkshire  had  been  unfairly  assessed  in  the 
State  valuation;  and  they  were  not  unwilling  that  the  apathy 
of  the  conservatives  should  be  disturbed  by  popular  tumults  rising 
to  the  very  verge  of  rebellion.  It  was  a  dangerous  tampering 
with  fearful  elements ;  but  if  there  were  many  among  the  influen- 
tial classes,  who,  while  rapt  in  admiration  of  the  Commonwealth, 


412  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

thought  it  delightful  "  to  live  among  those  who  owed,"  there  was 
much  to  palliate  their  rashness. 

It  was  by  the  votes,  or  the  absence  from  town-meeting,  of  this 
class,  which,  although  disaffected  to  the  government,  shrank  from 
overt  rebellion,  that  the  open  insurrectionists  owed  their  triumphs. 
The  malecontents,  however,  did  not  secure,  and  probably  did  not 
desire,  town  action  in  unison  with  that  of  their  brethren  in  the 
lower  counties.  A  fair  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  the 
majority  could  be  induced  to  yield  its  approval  to  measures  for 
the  reconstruction  of  government  is  found  in  the  votes  of  Sep- 
tember, 1785,  concerning  the  instructions  to  be  given  Dr. 
Timothy  Childs,  who  had  some  months  before  been  chosen  repre- 
sentative, and  who  was  opposed  to  the  insurrectionary  movement, 
although  doubtless,  like  most  of  the  friends  of  law  and  order  in 
Berkshire,  earnestly  desirous  of  thorough  reforms  by  unintimidated 
legislation. 

The  committee  to  draft  the  instructions  were  Woodbridge 
Little,  Joseph  Fairfield,  Daniel  Hubbard,  Major  Simon  Lamed, 
and  Eli  Root,  —  two  malecontents,  and  three  who  are  supposed  to 
have  been  of  opposite  views. 

They  reported  seven  paragraphs,  of -which  four  were  adopted, 
expressing  all  to  which  a  majority  of  the  meeting  would  assent. 
The  following  is  the  report,  as  drafted,  with  the  minutes  of  the 
town's  action  upon  it :  — 

Sir,  —  In  the  present  critical  and  disturbed  situation  of  affairs  in  this 
Commonwealth,  it  is  the  wish  of  your  constituents  that  you  give  the  most 
early  attendance  possible  at  the  General  Court  in  their  present  session,  and 
that  you  there  use  your  influence  that  something  may  be  done  which  may 
serve  to  quiet  the  minds,  remove  the  uneasiness,  and  silence  the  complaints, 
of  a  great  number  of  the  good  people  of  this  State.  And,  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  and  obtaining  this  desirable  object,  your  constituents  recommend 
the  following  matters  and  articles  to  your  consideration,  which  they  imagine 
will  be  conducive  to  this  end,  and  to  which  they  expect  you  will  give  your 
particular  attention  in  the  General  Court :  — 

1st,  That  you  endeavor  to  obtain  a  suspension  of  the  collecting  of  the 
last  State  tax,  so  far  as  it  respects  the  redemption  or  payment  of  the  public 
securities  of  every  description  or  denomination,  or  the  interest  due  on  said 
securities,  until  some  more  easy  and  equal  method  of  paying  the  same  can 
be  found  and  adopted.  And  it  is  the  sense  of  your  constituents,  that  some 
medium  at  which  public  securities  of  every  kind  have  been  sold  and  trans- 
ferred from  time  to  time  shall  be  considered  as  the  true  value  of  the  same, 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  413 

and  that  they  be  paid  both  principal  and  interest  accordingly;  and  that 
the  present  appropriation  of  the  impost  and  excise  revenue  be  suspended  in 
the  mean  time,  if  not  forever.  (Voted.) 

2d,  That  the  courts  of  Common  Pleas  and  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace 
be  abolished,  and  some  other  system  instituted,  calculated  (if  possible)  to 
lessen  the  present  expense  of  suits  in  law,  and  bring  them  to  a  more  speedy 
decision.  (Voted.} 

3d.  That  particular  attention  be  paid  to  the  fee-table,  and  that  the  fees 
of  justices  of  the  peace,  attorneys-at-law,  sheriffs,  and  all  other  civil  officers, 
be  so  far  reduced  as  that  they  shall  receive  merely  an  honest  and  equitable 
recompense  for  their  services,  and  not  have  it  in  their  power  to  evade  the 
true  meaning  and  intention  of  the  legislature  hi  their  establishment  of  fees ; 
and  that  it  be  an  object  whether  a  reduction  of  salaries  in  many  instances 
is  not  as  proper  as  an  augmentation  in  any.  (Voted.) 

4th,  That  you  use  your  influence  to  obtain  a  law  that  no  debt  shall  be 
collected  by  law  which  shall  be  contracted  after  a  certain  period  to  be 
fixed  by  the  court,  and  that  a  tender  act  be  made  to  ease  all  debtors  as  much 
as  possible  without  doing  manifest  injustice  to  creditors.  (Voted.) 

5th,  That  a  proper  method  be  adopted  to  obtain  the  sentiments  of  the 
deople  in  this  State  respecting  a  present  revision  of  our  Contitution. 
(Voted.) 

6th.  [Your  constituents  being  convinced  that  the  town  of  Boston  is  an 
improper  place  for  the  General  Assembly  to  hold  their  sessions  in,  they 
therefore  request  that  you  use  your  influence  to  have  some  other  place  fixed 
upon  for  that  purpose.] 

7th.  [That  the  town  clerk,  or  some  other  person,  be  appointed  in  each 
town  to  record  the  deeds  of  the  town.] 

Many  other  matters  of  importance  will  doubtless  suggest  themselves,  or  be 
brought  into  view  in  the  course  of  the  session,  concerning  which  your  con- 
stituents are  not  able  at  present  to  give  you  their  opinion.  Such  matters 
they  therefore  cheerfully  leave  to  your  good  sense  and  ability,  to  conduct 
therein  according  to  your  best  skill  and  judgment;  nothing 'doubting  that 
you  will  use  your  utmost  exertions  to  have  such  laws  enacted,  and  such  meas- 
ures adopted,  as  will  tend  to  the  restoration  and  establishment  of  peace  and 
good  government  through  the  Commonwealth. 

A  pleasant  journey  is  wished  you,  and  a  safe  return  with  happy  tidings. 
DR.  TIMOTHY  CHILDS. 

The  first  paragraph  was  the  fruit  of  the  intolerable  load  of  pub- 
lic indebtedness,  from  which  had  sprung,  on  the  one  hand,  an  una- 
vailing attempt  to  reduce  the  principal  by  over-rapid  instalments, 
and,  on  the  other,  projects  derogatory  to  the  faith  of  the  Com- 
monwealth; among  which  a  favorite  proposition  was,  that  the 
public  securities  might  justly  be  cancelled  by  paying  the  depre- 


414  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ciated  rates  at  which  they  had  come  into  the  hands  of  the  last 
holders. 

The  legislature,  struggling  to  maintain  the  public  credit,  had 
adopted  an  excise  and  impost  tax  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the 
interest  and  reducing  the  principal  of  the  State  debt,  and  had, 
moreover,  at  the  request  of  Congress,  granted  to  the  United  States, 
in  aid  of  paying  the  foreign  debt,  a  further  impost  of  five  per  cent. 
These  acts  the  town  instructed  Representative  Childs  to  oppose, 
as  well  as  the  collection  of  the  State  tax,  in  which  it  was  alleged 
that  the  western  counties  were  unfairly  assessed. 

The  other  paragraphs  adopted  merely  favored  the  much-needed 
reform  of  the  courts,  and  asked  that  the  question  of  revising  the  Con- 
stitution should  be  submitted  to  the  people.  There  was  nothing, 
surely,  very  revolutionary  in  these  votes.  Nor  would  there  have 
been  even  in  the  adoption  of  the  others;  which  simply  proposed  to 
abolish  the  collection  by  law  of  debts  incurred  after  a  certain 
date,  to  substitute  the  registry  of  deeds  by  town  instead  of  county 
officers,  and  favored  that  nine-lived  folly,  of  which  Gov.  Hutchinson 
was  the  father, —  a  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from  Boston. 

Another  meeting  was  held  Oct.  23,  when  the  insurrection  was 
approaching  its  armed  outbreak ;  but,  while  again  electing  male- 
content  delegates a  to  the  county  convention  to  be  held  at  Pitts- 
field,  Nov.  5,  it  manifested  the  same  repugnance  to  unnecessary 
innovation  which  its  predecessor  had  exhibited.  Its  action  was 
indeed  even  more  conservative:  for  it  declared  emphatically 
against  an  emission  of  paper  money;  opposed  a  tender  act;  and, 
the  former  meeting  having  directed  the  collectors  to  retain  the 
rate-bills  in  their  hands,  this  promised  the  support  of  the  town  in 
their  collection. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January,  when  the  rebels  at  arms  in  the 
county  were  conducting  with  unbridled  insolence,  there  was  a 
stormy  time  at  a  town-meeting  convened  to  consider  the  action 
of  a  recent  county  convention.  Matters  were  carried  with  so  high 
a  hand  by  the  insurrectionists,  that  the  clerk,  John  Chandler  Wil- 
liams, withdrew ;  the  moderator,  Eli  Root,  refused  to  declare  the 
votes ;  and  Capt.  John  Strong,  who  was  appointed  clerk  pro  tern., 
neglected  to  record  the  dissolution  of  the  meeting. 

The  folly  of  tampering  with  the  passions  of  the  mob  was  now 

1  Joseph  Fairfield,  Daniel  Hubbard,  Samuel  Rust,  Dan  Cadwell,  and  Capt. 
Daniel  Sackett. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  415 

apparent;  and  tbe  joy  of  the  people  was  sincere,  when,  in  the  next 
month,  the  occupation  of  the  town  by  Gen.  Lincoln  relieved  them 
from  the  restraint  which  their  indecision  in  the  early  part  of  the 
contest  had  invited. 

Thenceforward  the  town  meetings  consistently  favored,  not 
only  good  order,  but  a  sound  policy.  The  best  evidence  of  their 
real  sentiment  is  found  in  their  vote  at  the  State  election,  April, 
1787,  when  Gov.  Bowdoin,  whose  energetic  and  fearless  course 
had  suppressed  the  rebellion,  was  a  candidate  for  re-election,  and 
opposed  by  John  Hancock,  who  was  supposed  to  be  more  favora- 
bly inclined  to  the  insurgents.  Such  was  the  sympathy  with  the 
rebels  in  many  parts  of  the  Commonwealth,  even  among  those 
who  did  not  join  in  their  extreme  measures,  that  Hancock  was 
elected  mainly  on  that  issue,  with  a  legislature  of  the  same  com- 
plexion. But,  in  Pittsfield,  the  vote  stood,  —  for  Bowdoin,  forty- 
seven  ;  for  Hancock,  thirteen  :  while  the  popularity  won  by  Lin- 
coln in  his  local  military  administration  was  attested  by  a  unani- 
mous vote  (eighty -two)  for  lieutenant-governor.  A  still  more 
marked  proof  of  the  conservative  re-action  was  the  election  of 
Henry  Van  Schaack  as  representative,  in  spite  of  the  prejudice 
against  him  as  a  loyalist  of  the  Revolution.1 

During  the  military  occupation  of  Pittsfield,  the  troops  were 
quartered  among  the  inhabitants  in  such  manner  as  would  cause 
the  least  inconvenience  which  the  nature  of  the  case  admitted. 
The  officers  were  assigned  to  the  better  class  of  houses,  and  were 
almost  universally  received  with  a  cordial  welcome,  from  which 
many  enduring  friendships  arose;  and  doubtless,  although  unre- 
corded, the  same  was  true  of  intimacies  formed  in  humbler  quar- 
ters. 

Commendable  discipline  was  maintained  among  the  military ; 
and  the  unavoidable  wordy  disputes  between  soldiers  and  citizens 
never  resulted  in  serious  disturbances. 

With  a  large  number  of  young  men  congregated  in  a  place 
which  afforded  few  legitimate  channels  for  the  relief  of  exuberant 
animal  spirits,  or  means  for  dissipating  the  tedium  of  garrison  life, 
the  license  of  the  camp  sometimes  assumed  forms  vexatious  to  the 
staid  housekeeper.  But  the  incidents  related  in  illustration  of 
these  little  annoyances  betoken  the  roguish  pranks  of  boyish  men, 
and  not  the  insolence  of  military  hectoring.  No  doubt  the  pur- 

1  See  note  at  end  of  this  chapter. 


416  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

suit  of  lurking  rebels  was  varied  by  raids  —  such  as  college-boys 
make  —  upon  orchards,  cornfields,  and  poultry-yards  ;  but,  if  the 
offenders  were  detected,  punishment  was  sure  and  prompt. 

Indeed,  in  the  best-remembered  instance,  the  injured  party  was 
prompt  to  right  herself.  It  happened  that  a  considerable  squad 
was  quartered  in  the  tavern  then  kept  by  Capt.  Jared  Ingersoll,  on 
the  south  corner  of  the  present  North  and  Depot  Streets.  Now, 
Capt.  Ingersoll  was  a  prisoner  at  Northampton,  charged  with  par- 
ticipating in  the  rebellion,  leaving  his  affairs  in  charge  of  his  wife, 
the  widow  of  Col.  John  Brown.  The  soldiers  were  perhaps 
encouraged  by  the  unfortunate  position  of  the  landlord  to  make 
more  free  with  the  premises  than  they  would  otherwise  have  done ; 
and  a  few  of  them,  with  a  genuine  Yankee  appreciation  of  the 
ftm  of  making  money,  placed  in  the  bar-room  a  barrel  of  cider, 
from  which  they  proceeded  to  retail  by  the  glass.  But  the  rogues 
had  reckoned  without  their  hostess ;  for  the  spirited  and  resolute 
landlady,  appearing  on  the  scene,  unceremoniously  pitched  the 
intrusive  commodity  into  the  street,  remarking,  with  quiet  empha- 
sis, that  "  She  kept  tavern  there."  It  is  safe  to  guess  that  order 
was  preserved  among  the  military  guests  of  that  household  with- 
out reference  to  the  provost-marshal. 

But,  well  as  the  soldiery  remembered  that  they  were  among  the 
homes  of  their  fellow-citizens,  an  extraordinary  military  bustle  and 
disquiet  pervaded  the  streets  of  Pittsfield  during  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1787.  The  roll  of  the  drum  and  the  challenge  of  the 
sentinel  were  frequent ;  detachments  were  constantly  marching  and 
counter-marching,  as  alarms  came  from  one  quarter  or  another ; 
and  prisoners  were  continually  brought  in,  to  be  sent  forward  to 
Great  Barrington  or  Northampton  jails :  so  that  Pittsfield  bore 
not  a  little  of  the  sad  aspect  which  always  attaches  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  victors  after  a  suppressed  rebellion.  For  the 
clemency  which  afterwards  marked  the  course  of  the  government 
was  not  then  assured  or  even  probable  ;  and  the  prisoners  set  out 
from  Pittsfield  with  a  well-grounded  apprehension  that  the  termi- 
nation of  their  journey  would  be  either  a  gallows  or  a  felon's  cell. 
Shadowy  as  the  perils  which  the  government  and  its  opponents 
passed  through  in  that  day  may  now  appear,  we  may  be  sure  that 
they  were  realities  fearfully  vivid  and  palpable  to  those  who  were 
compelled  to  face  them.  And  the  consternation  which  the  rebel, 
in  his  uprising,  excited  among  the  friends  of  the  government,  was 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  417 

fully  brought  home  to  his  own  breast,  when,  defeated,  he  found 
himself  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  law  which  he  had  undertaken 
to  overthrow.  Happily,  the  tremors  of  one  party  having  been  re- 
moved by  the  success  of  its  arms,  those  of  the  other  were  quieted 
by  the  politic  mercy  of  the /victors.  The  general  commanding  the 
successful  militia  was  earnest  for  the  most  liberal  clemency,  and 
the  majority  of  the  people  shared  his  generous  sentiments;  while 
the  most  severe  measures  proposed  by  the  minority  were  mild,  as 
compared  with  the  standard  of  that  era  in  cases  of  treason. 

But,  long  after  the  rebel  spirit  had  been  conciliated  towards  the 
government  of  the  State,  the  effects  of  the  divisions  which  it  had 
created  in  counties,  towns,  and  neighborhoods  continued  to  mani- 
fest themselves  in  the  relations  of  the  people  to  each  other.  "  Too 
much  had  been  said  and  done,"  says  Dr.  Field,  "to  permit  the 
people  to  become  at  once  altogether  friendly.  Unhappy  jealousies 
remained  in  neighborhoods  and  towns;  the  clergy  who  had 
favored  the  Revolutionary  war  opposed  the  rebellion,  and  thereby, 
in  some  instances,  offended  many  of  their  parishioners ;  and  this  is 
understood  to  have  caused  the  dismission  of  the  ministers  in 
Alford  and  Egremont,  and  created  much  disaffection  in  Sandis- 
field." 

In  Pittsfield,  the  dissensions  were  aggravated  by  other  than  poli- 
tical causes,  and  rose  to  such  violence,  that,  in  order  to  render  life 
in  the  town  at  all  tolerable,  it  became  necessary  to  reconcile  them. 
The  mode  in  which  this  was  attempted  was  so  characteristic  of  the 
times  and  of  the  people  that  it  merits  a  minute  narration.  The 
difficulties,  although  their  exciting  cause  was  chiefly  political, 
developed  themselves  most  conspicuously  in  connection  with 
the  affairs  of  the  town  as  a  religious  parish,  and  were,  in  great 
part,  the  fruit  of  the  unnatural  connection  between  church  and 
state. 

In  Pittsfield,  the  existence  of  other  religious  denominations  than 
the  Congregational  was  practically  ignored.  The  town  was  sim- 
ply a  Congregational  parish,  which  could  not  be  divided,  except 
by  special  act  of  the  legislature.  All  its  affairs  were  conducted  in 
town -meeting,  as  of  old ;  and  the  town  retained  all  its  rights  and 
privileges  as  the  secular  organization  which  provided  for  religious 
worship.  Cribbed  so  closely,  the  most  pacific  people  would  have 
fretted  themselves  into  a  passion  in  the  most  peaceful  times.  A 
great  deal  of  good  temper  is  preserved  in  our  day  by  the  large 
27 


418  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

liberty  we  enjoy  of  dividing  upon  every  difference.  The  good 
people  of  Pittsfield  were  more  trammelled  when,  in  1788,  they 
looked  to  peaceful  separation  as  the  alternative  of  the  better  if 
possible  thing,  unity,  to  remedy  their  troubles ;  and  the  warrant 
for  the  April  meeting  proposed  to  hear  any  suggestions  which 
might  be  made  "for  uniting  or  dividing  the  town." 

The  meeting,  it  seems,  did  not  despair  of  healing  the  existing 
dissensions,  but  appointed  a  committee  "  to  attend  to  all  matters 
which  have  been  the  cause  or  occasion  of  the  late  disunion  in  the 
town,  and  to  such  matters  as  may  tend  to  a  union  and  reconcilia- 
tion, and  make  report  as  soon  as  may  be  of  such  measures  as  to 
them  shall  appear  most  likely  to  effect  that  desirable  purpose." 

The  committee  was  made  up  with  great  care  from  men  of 
influence  and  sound  discretion  in  all  parties,  as  well  as  some  who 
had  probably  maintained  a  wise  neutrality.  Its  members  were 
Woodbridge  Little,  Deacon  Daniel  Hubbard,  Joseph  Farr,  Capt. 
James  Dn.  Colt,  Major  Oliver  Root,  Deacon  Joseph  Clark,  Capts. 
David  Bush,  Joel  Stevens,  and  William  Francis,  Enoch  Haskins 
and  Stephen  FoVler.  A  public  hearing  was  given  on  the  3d  of 
June  to  all  interested;  and  "having  fully  considered  all  the  matters 
of  difficulty  which  were  then  or  at  any  other  time  mentioned  or 
suggested  to  them  as  causes  of  uneasiness,"  and  after  much  con- 
sultation and  investigation,  the  committee  agreed  upon  a  report, 
which  was  submitted  to  the  town  on  the  26th. 

They  found  that  the  causes  of  the  dissensions  were  all  reducible 
to  the  following  heads  :  — 

"  First.  The  state  of  the  pews  in  the  meeting-house,  including  the  manner 
in  which  they  were  obtained,  and  are  now  holden  by  their  proprietors. 

"  Second.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  having  received  an  allowance  from  the 
town  for  the  depreciation  of  money,  notwithstanding  the  various  public 
declarations  which  he  has  made. 

Third.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  having  in  times  past,  in  his  official  character, 
repeatedly  interested  himself  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country,  and  pub- 
licly interposed  therein  in  an  undue  and  improper  manner." 

With  regard  to  these  allegations,  the  committee  resolved,  — 

"  First.  That  it  should  be  recommended  to  proprietors  of  pews  to  relinquish 
their  rights  in  them ;  and  that  the  town  take  such  measures  to  accommodate 
the  inhabitants  with  seats  as  may  be  thought  proper. 

"  Second.  With  respect  to  the  second  article,  we  do  not  find  the  Rev.  Mr. 


HISTOBY   OP  PITTSFIELD.  419 

Allen  to  have  been  guilty  of  any  immoral  conduct  therein ;  and  we  recom- 
mend it  to  every  person  who  is  aggrieved  thereby  to  apply  to  Mr.  Allen,  who 
will  doubtless  give  every  reasonable  satisfaction  in  his  power ;  and,  if  any 
such  person  shall  desire  satisfaction  of  a  pecuniary  kind,  we  wish  Mr.  Allen, 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  to  grant  it. 

"  Third.  And,  as  to  matters  contained  in  the  third  article,  we  consider  Mr. 
Allen  to  be  liable  to  human  frailties  and  error ;  and  we  are  of  opinion  that 
much  of  the  uneasiness  and  disunion  subsisting  in  this  town  might  have  been 
prevented  had  he  ever  been  silent  with  respect  to  political  matters  in  his 
public  performances ;  but  we  by  no  means  charge  him  with  any  sinister  or 
criminal  intention  therein. 

"  Resolved,  further,  That,  whenever  the  town  shall  think  proper  to  erect  a 
meeting-house,  the  place  for  the  standing  of  the  same  shall  be  submitted  to 
the  determination  of  three  or  more  disinterested  persons,  not  inhabitants  of 
the  town." 

The  reader  will  recall  that  proprietorship  was  originally  acquired 
in  the  pews  by  some  of  the  more  wealthy  early  settlers,  who  were 
allowed  to  purchase  for  lack  of  funds  otherwise  to  finish  the  house. 
The  square  pews  were  still  held  under  these  titles,  and  occupied 
an  undue  space  in  the  little  meeting-house.  There  arose  a  more 
serious  difficulty,  —  that  while  the  people  were  "  sorted  "  by  the 
committee,  according  to  their  notions  of  social  position,  upon  the 
"  long  seats "  and  in  the  gallery,  the  pew-holders  with  their 
families,  from  year  to  year,  marched  to  their  prescriptive  places 
with  an  odious  dignity,  free  of  official  censorship. 

Some  further  explanation  than  was  at  that  time  necessary  is 
now  requisite  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  pecuniary  relations 
of  Mr.  Allen  to  the  town. 

His  settlement  in  1764,  with  an  annual  stipend  of  £80  and  forty 
cords  of  wood,  will  be  remembered.  Twenty-four  years  had 
passed,  and  left  him  with  a  wife  and  eight  surviving  children,  but 
no  increase  of  salary,  or,  rather,  with  a  fearful  decrease  by  the 
depreciation  of  the  currency.  He  had,  however,  during  the  war 
of  the  Revolution,  been  led  by  a  noble  zeal  and  faith  in  his  coun- 
try to  "  loan  the  Continent "  the  sum  of  $2,500,  to  obtain  the  means 
for  which  and  for  other  local  purposes  of  a  similar  character,  as 
well  as  to  support  his  family,  he  had  alienated  more  than  half  of 
the  valuable  home-lot  which  had  fallen  to  him  as  first  minister  of 
the  town.  At  one  time  of  his  country's  need,  he  had  even  sold 
his  watch  in  order  to  turn  the  proceeds  into  a  Continental  "  cer- 
tificate of  indebtedness."  One  can  well  pardon  some  untimely 


420  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

expression  of  a  zeal  which  thus  manifested  itself.  In  1788,  these 
Continental  certificates  had  depreciated  in  value  to  $606  Connecti- 
cut money ;  and  the  Confederation  and  the  State  then  owed  him, 
at  these  depreciated  rates,  $1,129,  principal  and  interest. 

It  thus  happened  that  in  the  year  1783,  with  his  funds  unavail- 
able, he  found  himself  considerably  in  debt,  and,  by  the  advice  of 
friends,  applied  to  his  parish  for  relief.  The  request  was  promptly 
met  by  a  grant  of  £300 ;  but,  learning  that  a  few  tax-payers  felt 
aggrieved  by  this  act  of  justice  as  well  as  generosity,  he  at  once 
declined  it. 

He,  however,  accepted  a  loan  of  £200,  for  which  he  gave  his 
bond,  although  he  was  led  by  the  intimations  of  some  of  his 
parishioners  to  expect  that  repayment  would  never  be  required. 
We  may  anticipate  our  story  by  remarking  that  this  not  unnatural 
expectation  was  defeated  by  the  contentions  which  continued  to 
prevail.  In  1792,  Mr.  Allen  paid  £150  of  the  principal ;  and,  in 
1809,  he  took  up  his  note,  devoting  the  whole  of  his  salary  for  the 
preceding  year  to  the  payment  of  what  remained  due.  He  had 
paid  more  than  £800,  principal  and  interest,  upon  the  loan  of  £200. 

The  report  submitted  on  the  26th  resulted  in  the  following 
action.  The  owners  of  pews  having  released  their  rights  "  so  that 
every  person  might  have  an  equal  right  to  seats  therein  until  the 
town  should  be  divided  into  two  or  more  parishes,"  their  action 
was  voted  perfectly  satisfactory,  although  the  idea  of  separation 
was  still  prominently  held  out. 

With  regard  to  the  subjects  of  the  second  and  third  resolutions 
of  the  committee's  report,  it  seems  that  Mr.  Allen  had  made  some 
personal  communication  to  the  meeting,  —  in  part,  probably,  em- 
bodying some  of  the  statements  which  we  have  given  above. 
"  These  declarations,"  the  town  voted  unanimously, "  removed  all 
uneasiness  which  had  subsisted  in  the  minds  of  the  people  now 
present,  and  they  are  determined  to  be  satisfied  therewith ; "  and 
they  recommended  "  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  not  now  present, 
who  remain  unsatisfied,  to  apply  to  the  town  for  such  pecuniary 
satisfaction  as  they  may  think  they  ought  to  receive  for  what  they 
may  have  paid  on  the  depreciation  tax." 

Notwithstanding  this  harmonious  action  of  the  meeting, 
"  uneasiness  continued  to  prevail  to  some  extent  among  those  who 
had  absented  themselves ; "  and  a  number  of  the  discontented,  the 
next  year,  applied  for  an  abatement  of  their  ministry  tax,  which 
was  refused,  except  as  regarded  those  legally  exempt. 


HISTOBY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  421 

Mi1.  Allen's  bond  also  continued  to  be  the  subject  of  discussion 
and  negotiation  until  its  final  payment,  as  from  time  to  time  por- 
tions of  it  were  discharged  by  "  discounts  on  his  salary,"  and  by 
the  release  of  his  interest  in  the  lots  devoted  to  the  support  of  the 
ministry.  These  transactions  appear  to  have  been  conducted  in 
good  temper,  and,  at  least  during  the  closing  years  of  that  century, 
with  due  regard  to  the  convenience  of  the  debtor.  Although  some 
few  were  openly  disaffected  towards  the  minister,  —  and  doubtless 
the  sting  of  his  plain  preaching  of  political  duty  in  time  past 
secretly  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of  others,  —  still  an  era  of  compara- 
tive good  feeling  had  been  reached,  as  regarded  the  minister ;  and, 
for  a  few  years,  the  contentious  spirits  of  the  town  were  engrossed 
by  other  matters. 

NOTES. 

JOSHUA  DANFORTH  was  born  at  Weston  in  1759 ;  his  father  being  Jonathan  Danforth, 
who  commanded  a  battalion  with  credit  at  the  battle  of  Bennington.  His  preparation 
for  college  was  interrupted  by  the  Revolution,  and  he  entered  the  army  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  as  clerk  in  his  father's  company.  After  serving  for  some  months  in  this  office, 
performing  at  the  same  time  the  duties  of  surgeon's  mate,  he  was  made  ensign  at 
sixteen,  promoted  first  lieutenant  in  1778,  and  paymaster,  with  the  rank  of  captain,  hi 
1781.  lie  performed  a  gallant  exploit  hi  rescuing  baggage  from  an  exposed  position  at 
Roxbury  in  1775,  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  and  suffered  with  Washing- 
ton's army  the  horrors  of  the  following  winter  at  Valley  Forge,  which  he  described  as  "  in- 
credible." In  1778,  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth  Court-House,  and,  in  1781, 
was  in  command  of  a  post  on  the  Lower  Hudson.  From  that  year  he  served  as  pay- 
master until  May,  1784,  when  he  removed  to  Pittsfield,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
in  company  with  Col.  Simon  Lamed.  Here  he  was  postmaster  and  collector  of  internal 
revenue,  and  held  other  public  offices,  until  his  death  in  1837.  No  citizen  of  the  town 
was  ever  held  in  higher  respect  than  Col.  Danforth  for  sound  sense,  official  ability  and 
integrity,  moral  worth,  and  consistent  piety. 

HENRY  VAN  SCHAACK  was  born  at  Kinderhook  in  1733.  Having  received  the  limited 
education  which  the  common  school  of  that  town  could  give,  he  went  to  serve  a  mercantile 
apprenticeship  with  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston  of  New  York.  At  the  age  of  twenty, 
he  was  lieutenant  of  the  company  commanded  by  Philip,  afterwards  Gen.  Schuyler,  in 
the  expedition  of  1755  against  Crown  Point  ;  and,  when  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  re- 
giment was  cut  up  by  the  enemy,  he  was  one  of  the  party  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
who  first  went  to  their  relief.  He  was  afterwards  paymaster  and  commissioner  of 
musters,  with  the  rank  of  major. 

He  carried  on  his  mercantile  business  successfully  ;  and,  as  early  as  1757,  he  had  an 
interest  in  trading  stations  at  Oswego  and  Niagara.  On  the  conquest  of  Canada,  he 
extended  his  operations  to  Detroit  and  Mackinaw,  then  the  ultima  thule  of  British 
North  America.  He  had  by  these  means  acquired,  previous  to  the  Revolution,  an 
ample  fortune. 

When  the  Stamp  Act  passed,  he  was  postmaster  of  the  city  of  Albany,  and  a  prominent 
business  man.  Falling  under  the  suspicion  of  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  that  he  intended 
to  apply  for  the  office  of  stamp-distributor  also,  the  populace  destroyed  the  balcony, 


422  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

windows,  and  furniture  of  his  house,  and  compelled  him  to  take  an  oath  never  to  apply 
for  the  odious  office,  nor  to  accept  it  if  offered  him. 

In  1769,  he  removed  to  his  native  town,  Kinderhook,  where  he  was  immediately  ap- 
pointed justice  of  the  peace,  and  elected  supervisor,  which  offices  he  held  until  the 
Revolution. 

Mr.  Van  Schaack  was  a  member  of  the  first  Committee  of  Safety  and  Correspond- 
ence for  the  City  and  County  of  Albany,  and  a  candidate  for  delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress.  But,  early  in  1775,  he  withdrew  from  the  committee,  and  declared  himself  a 
loyalist.  He  had  reached  the  conclusion,  that  "  the  dispute  with  the  mother  country 
was  carried  on  with  too  much  acrimony ; "  that  the  Congress  of  1774  "  had  left  no  back 
door  open  for  reconciliation ;"  that  there  was  "  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  many 
citizens  wished  to  shake  off  their  dependence  upon  Great  Britain ; "  and  that "  the  people 
had  got  to  that  pass  that  they  did  not  consider  the  qualifications  of  a  king,  for  they 
would  have  no  king."  With  regard  to  the  two  latter  propositions,  Mr.  Van  Shaack 
read  the  people  better  than  they  read  themselves  ;  but  he  was  less  fortunate  in  predict- 
ing that  "  Great  Britain  will  lower  us,  in  spite  of  all  we  can  do  :  the  Fishing-bill  will 
make  us  knuckle." 

For  all  this,  Mr.  Van  Schaack  appears  to  have  been  a  sincere  lover  of  his  country,  and 
to  have  dreaded,  not  rejoiced  in,  the  humiliation  which  he  anticipated.  But  loyal  by  in- 
stinct as  well  as  by  principle,  and  reverencing  the  oath  of  allegiance  which  he  had 
often  taken,  he  craved  the  privilege  of  neutrality.  This,  however,  could  not  reasonably 
be  granted  to  a  man  of  his  prominence,  while  he  remained  at  home  ;  and  he  was  re- 
quired by  the  Commissioners  of  Conspiracies  to  withdraw,  while  the  contest  lasted,  into 
Connecticut  or  Massachusetts,  and  place  himself  under  the  supervision  of  their  Com- 
mittee of  Inspection.  He  chose  Berkshire  County  ;  and,  after  trying  Richmond  and 
Stockbridge  for  a  few  months  each,  he  purchased  the  beautiful  estate  which  includes 
Melville  Lake,  and  settled  in  Pittsfield.  Here  his  desire  to  withdraw  from  political  strife 
was  gratified ;  and,  although  he  watched  the  course  of  affairs  with  intense  interest,  he 
afforded  no  cause  of  complaint  to  the  most  jealous  Whig.  On  the  contrary,  he  won  the 
confidence  and  friendship  of  many  of  the  leading  patriots  to  a  degree  which  attests  the 
worth  of  his  character  as  a  man  and  his  pleasant  qualities  as  a  companion.  The  act 
Of  banishment  against  him  was  revoked,  and  Gen.  Schuyler  wrote  inviting  him  to 
return.  Mr.  Van  Shaack,  however,  was  entirely  satisfied  with  Massachusetts,  as  will 
appear  from  the  letter  already  quoted,  as  well  as  from  another  to  his  brother  Peter,  in 
which  he  says,  "  So  perfectly  am  I  satisfied  with  the  manners,  customs,  and  laws  of 
this  Commonwealth,  that  I  would  not  exchange  them  for  any  other  I  know  of  in  the 
world." 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  be  became  a  citizen  of  the  State  ;  and  we  shall  continue  to 
find  him  prominent  in  town  affairs  and  in  social  life.  But  he  finally  returned  to  Kinder- 
hook,  where  he  died. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

COUNTY   COURTS   IN    PITTSFIELD. 

[1761-1787.] 

Courts  on  Unkamet  Street.  —  Peculiarities  of  the   Court  of  General   Sessions. 

—  Court-house     Scenes.  —  Dissatisfaction   with    the    Place   of   holding    the 
Courts.  —  Contributions  and  Plans  for  a  New  Court-House.  —  Various  Sites 
Advocated.  —  Change  in  the  Shire"-Towns  proposed.  —  Popular  and  Legislative 
Action.  —  A  County  Convention  decides  for  Lenox.  —  Opposition.  —  Delays. 

—  The  Legislature  insists.  —  Court-House  and  Jail  built. 

- 

~T~  IETJT.  GRAVES'S  house,  on  Unkamet  Street,  was  an  impor- 
I  J  tant  spot  in  the  Pittsfield  of  old  times,  when  the  county  courts 
held  in  its  long  room  their  quarterly  terms  ;  events  of  much  greater 
public  moment  then  than  now,  on  account  of  the  peculiar  compo- 
sition and  functions  of  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace. 

This  tribunal,  in  addition  to  its  jurisdiction  in  criminal  cases,  was 
a  sort  of  county  parliament,  in  which  not  only  were  many  impor- 
tant matters,  now  intrusted  to  the  commissioners,  officially  decided 
by  the  justices  ;  but  the  general  affairs  of  the  county  were  debated 
informally  by  all  the  gentlemen  in  attendance,  and  sometimes  de- 
terminations reached  to  which  the  influence  of  those  who  partici- 
pated in  them  gave  almost  the  force  of  law.  The  personal  influence 
of  village  magnates,  powerful  still,  was  then  immeasurably  more  so; 
indeed,  if  united,  irresistible :  and,  when  matters  of  engrossing 
interest  were  agitated,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  men  of  wealth 
and  standing  were  sure  to  congregate  at  "the  Sessions." 

Four  justices  composed  this  court  in  1761,  who,  six  years  later, 
had  increased  to  ten.  Probably,  when  the  Revolution  broke  out, 
the  number  of  magistrates  on  its  bench  exceeded  a  dozen ;  but 
the  records  of  the  intervening  period  are  missing,  having,  perhaps, 
been  a  part  of  those  which,  as  traditions  state,  were  destroyed  with 

423 


424  HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  house  of  Lieut.  Graves  when  it  was  burned,  just  previous  to 
the  removal  of  the  courts  to  Lenox. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  number  of  justices  was  greatly  aug- 
mented ;  twenty-six  being  reported  present  at  a  session  of  1800. 

Besides  the  judges  of  the  two  courts,  many  of  the  principal 
gentlemen  of  the  county  were  usually  collected,  as  executive  offi- 
cers, lawyers,  suitors,  jurors,  witnesses,  or  spectators  interested  in 
the  civil  matters  before  the  Court  of  Sessions. 

In  Lieut.  Graves's  homestead,  the  most  spacious  room  had  been 
fitted  up  with  the  furniture  necessary  for  the  court ;  and,  the  winter 
terms  being  held  at  Pittsfield,  a  blazing  fire  roared  up  the  huge  old- 
fashioned  chimney,  and  garrisoned  the  seat  of  justice  against  the 
besieging  cold. 

Among  the  groups  gathered  in  the  recesses  of  the  courts  around 
the  cheery  blaze,  or  those  which  no  less  ruddily  illumined  the 
windows  of  the  neighboring  taverns,  might  generally  have  been  seen 
most  of  the  men  noted  in  the  county  annals  of  those  times. 

Some  of  these  were  in  active  correspondence  with  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  age  at  the  centres  of  political  influence ;  all  were 
readers  of  some  of  the  few  journals  then  published ;  and  many 
were  diligent  students  of  State  lore  and  of  the  polemical  essays 
which  flooded  the  country.  Here  they  interchanged  information 
and  views,  discussed  the  agitated  course  of  events,  and  concerted 
measures  in  regard  to  them. 

Nor  has  tradition  forgotten  the  genial  social  intercourse  of  the 
gentlemen  —  many  of  them  such  in  the  best  old  use  of  that  word  — 
who  were  bi'ought  together  in  the  long  winter  evenings  of  court- 
time.  Many  are  the  jokes,  quips,  quirks,  and  quiddits,  the  stories, 
anecdotes,  and  repartees,  handed  down  of  those  whose  sterling 
worth  and  brilliant  talent  are  overshadowed  to  posterity  by  the 
quaintness  with  which  their  wit  and  humor,  as  well  as  their  old- 
fashioned  gentility,  have  invested  their  memory.  They  were  good 
livers  all,  and,  in  the  manner  of  its  enjoyment,  could  impart  an  ad- 
ditional zest  to  either  the  haunch  of  venison,  the  gloriously-flavored 
wild  turkey  of  the  Berkshire  woods,  or  the  homely  roast ;  to  the 
fine  old  Madeira  of  Col.  Williams,  or  the  "bottled  cider"  of  their 
own  making,  such  as  Major  Van  Schaack  boasted  "equal  to  the 
best  champagne." 

It  must  be  confessed,  that  the  social  glass,  unadulterated  as  it 
was,  wrought  its  own  work  upon  some  of  the  noblest  of  the  circle ; 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  425 

and  it  is  true  that  the  magnificence  of  spirit  and  nice  code  of  honor 
which  prevailed  tolerated  vices,  especially  the  profanity  and  licen- 
tiousness peculiar  to  that  age,  which  advancing  civilization  has 
since  taught  New  England  to  ban,  if  not  to  banish. 

Their  vices,  like  their  virtues,  were  those  of  the  high-spirited 
gentlemen  of  the  old  school ;  and,  if  the  groups  gathered  in  that 
cosey  and  ruddy  nook  among  the  Winter-bergs  is  not  a  perfect 
model  for  the  imitation  of  modern  Berkshire,  it  is  certainly  a  very 
picturesque  one  for  the  painter,  whether  he  use  pen  or  pencil.  Nor  is 
it  for  the  present  age,  with  its  manifold  creeping  and  crawling  sins, 
to  bestow  its  indignation  in  any  Pharisaic  spirit  upon  the  more 
robust  naughtiness  of  its  predecessor. 

In  hours  like  those  we  have  described,  friendships  grew  up 
which  endured  for  years,  in  which  old  men  often  manifested  the 
most  affecting  tenderness  for  each  other.  Here,  too,  in  the  fierce 
conflicts  of  law  and  politics,  were  engendered  feuds  which  some- 
times became  deadly  and  hereditary.  But,  upon  the  whole,  the 
habitual  attendants  upon  the  courts  acquired  a  friendly  intimacy 
which  rendered  them  almost  a  band  of  brothers. 

Upon  those  pleasant  days  broke  the  distant  rumblings  which 
heralded  the  Revolution.  In  and  around  the  little  Pittsfield 
court-room  at  Unkamet's  Crossing,  as  elsewhere,  while  the  hour 
for  resistance  to  tyranny  was  approaching,  the  encroachments  of 
Great  Britain  were  descanted  upon ;  and,  as  one  after  another 
blow  aimed  at  natural  or  chartered  rights  was  announced,  those 
who  had  clung  to  the  hope  of  reconciliation  one  by  one  sorrow- 
fully renounced  it,  until  the  few  who  adhered  to  the  king  stood 
miserably  conspicuous,  —  aliens  from  the  household  in  which  some 
of  them  had  lately  been  among  the  most  honored  members,  ex- 
cluded from  social  or  commercial  intercourse,  and  branded  as 
"  the  enemies  of  American  liberty." 

But,  before  this  division  of  those  loyal  to  the  king  from  those 
loyal  to  the  country  was  complete,  the  courts  of  Berkshire  had 
ceased  forever  to  be  held  in  the  royal  name ;  and  the  interregnum 
which  ensued,  until  the  new  government  was  established  in  1780, 
resulted  incidentally  in  the  removal  of  the  courts  from  Great  Bar- 
rington  and  Pittsfield,  and  their  concentration  at  Lenox. 

The  insufficient  accommodations  for  the  courts  at  Pittsfield  had, 
in  1774,  long  been  a  source  of  complaint;  and,  previous  to  that 
date,  measures  had  been  entered  upon  to  provide  better.  The  loss 


426  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  the  records,  however,  leaves  us  in  the  dark  as  to  what  those 
measures  were,  except  as  light  is  thrown  upon  them  by  the  follow- 
ing unsigned  draft  of  agreement,  which  was  found  among  the 
papers  of  Col.  Williams :  — 

BERKSHIRE,  ss. 

To  the,  Honorable  His  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  and  Inferior 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  to  be  holden  at  Pittsfield,  within  and  for  the  said  County,  on  the 
fourth  Tuesday  of  Febi-uary  next,  being  the  twenty-second  Day  of  said  Month,  A.D.  1774. 

Whereas,  for  many  years  past,  there  has  been  great  uneasiness  in  said 
county,  that  the  courts  appointed  by  law  to  be  held  at  Pittsfield,  within  and 
for  said  county,  should  from  time  to  time  be  holden  at  the  house  of  Lieut. 
Graves,  in  said  Pittsfield ;  and,  from  the  extraordinary  growth  and  increase 
of  said  county,  said  uneasiness  has  grown  to  a  great  degree  of  dissatisfaction, 
of  which,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  your  Honors  have  heretofore  been  informed, 
and  at  a  greater  meeting  than  ever  was  known  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of 
the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  for  said  county,  whether  it  might  be  called 
a  Court  of  the  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  or  not  we  are  uncertain,  they, 
the  said  justices,  then  and  there  did  nominate  and  appoint  a  committee  to 
repair  to  Pittsfield  to  view  and  determine  the  most  suitable  place  for  the  erect- 
ing a  court-house  in  said  town,  the  major  part  of  whom  reported,  as  we 
are  informed,  that  between  the  corners  of  Messrs.  Jones,  Fairfield,  Goodrich, 
and  Root  was  the  most  suitable  place  to  accommodate  the  county  and 
public :  — 

Wherefore  we,  the  subscribers,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  unanimity,  and 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  public,  do  make  over,  dispose  of,  and  assign  to 
such  person  or  persons  as  your  Honors  shall  appoint,  all  and  singular  such 
lands,  moneys,  and  articles  as  we  have  hereunto  subscribed,  for  the  ends  and 
purposes  following ;  viz.,  to  erect  a  decent  and  commodious  court-house  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  said  county,  provided  the  house  be  erected  at  said 
place,  and  hereby  bind  and  oblige  ourselves,  our  heirs,  &c.,  to  the  perform- 
ance thereof,  as  fully  and  amply  as  we  can  or  ought  to  be  holden  in  any 
contract  or  bargain,  however  precisely  and  lawfully  exemplified  or  expressed. 
In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  affixed  our  names,  and  the  articles 
which  we  promise  for  the  purpose  aforesaid.  1 

The  location  named  is  now  Wendell  Square,  the  ambitious  early 
projects  of  whose  abuttors,  already  narrated,  'were  now  revived, 
only  to  be  again  dashed  almost  in  the  moment  of  fruition.  The 
interested  parties  tendered  a  gift  of  the  land  arid  building  material ; 
and  tradition  avers  that  the  latter  was  actually  collected,  and  long 
cumbered  the  ground.  But  the  term  of  the  court  to  which  the 
tender  was  made,  and  by  which  it  was  undoubtedly  accepted,  was 

*  C.  C.  p.  237. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  427 

the  last  which  Berkshire  County  saw  for  over  six  years.  There 
were  also  efforts  to  secure  the  location  of  the  court-house  near 
The  Elm  and  the  meeting-house ;  but  a  more  strenuous  exertion 
was  made  by  some  proprietors  of  lands  between  TJnkamet's  Cross- 
ing and  Silver  Lake,  who  inherited  Col.  Stoddard's  vision  of  a 
central  village  in  that  quarter,  and  wished  the  new  building  to  be 
placed  at  the  junction  of  Beaver  and  Dickinson  Streets,  on  the 
lands  now  a  part  of  the  grounds  of  Hon.  Messrs.  Benjamin  R. 
Curtis  and  Thomas  Allen,  and  immediately  in  front  of  the  house 
built,  and  in  1774  occupied,  by  Woodbridge  Little.  Here,  as 
upon  Wendell  Square,  land  was  tendered  for  the  court-house,  a 
public  square  was  actually  laid  out,  and  materials  for  the  building 
collected. 

There  was,  of  course,  no  occasion  to  discuss  the  location  of 
court-houses  while  the  courts  were  suspended,  nor,  in  the  absence 
of  the  General  Sessions,  was  there  any  authority  to  build  upon 
the  spot  already  designated;  and  when,  almost  immediately  after 
the  re-establishment  of  civil  government,  the  subject  was  again 
agitated,  it  was  with  a  view  to  a  change  in  the  places  of  holding 
the  courts. 

Rev.  Mr.  Allen  states  positively *  that  the  courts  were  removed 
for  political  reasons ;  and  it  is  likely  that  the  leading  part  which 
Pittsfield  took  in  opposition  to  eastern  sentiment  regarding  civil 
government  during  the  Revolution  may  have  been  artfully  used 
to  influence  the  legislature  in  favor  of  the  change.  But  it  could 
hardly  been  the  motive  of  the  originators  of  the  movement  in 
the  county. 

What,  if  any  thing  other  than  local  interests  of  the  towns  which 
wished  to  supplant  the  old  county  seats,  really  prompted  this 
movement,  it  is  difficult  now  to  determine. 

The  population  of  the  county,  which  in  1761  lay  almost  entirely 
south  of  the  north  line  of  Pittsfield,  had  now  extended  itself 
largely  in  the  north,  but  not  sufficiently  to  demand  the  transfer 
of  the  county  seat  in  that  direction.  The  preponderance  of 
wealth  and  numbers  was  still  with  the  lower  towns. 

Lanesborough  was  flourishing,  and  rivalling  her  next  southern 
neighbor  in  business  and  population ;  but  there  were  few  spots 
among  the  sterile  hills  of  the  north  to  tempt  the  agriculturist  from 
the  broad  and  fertile  meadows  which  extended  along  the  Housa- 

1  Pamphlet  of  1810. 


428  HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

tonic  from  Sheffield  to  Lanesborough,  or  from  the  superb  uplands 
of  Pittsfield  and  a  few  other  towns  in  the  south.  Sheffield,  Great 
Barrington,  Stockbridge,  and  their  neighbors,  still  retained  the 
advantage  in  point  of  wealth  which  they  had  gained  while  Pitts- 
field,  and  all  north  of  that  point,  was  a  wilderness,  or  was  barely 
held  by  a  military  occupation  against  the  savage.  Those  noble 
manufactures  which  have  since  brought  such  wealth  and  increase 
of  people  to  Northern  Berkshire  were  then  but  feebly  dreamt  of, 
if  at  all,  by  such  enthusiasts  as  Parson  Allen ;  and  the  railroads 
which  now  vein  the  county  in  all  directions  from  Pittsfield  were 
as  yet  .not  even  prophesied  by  the  poor  foreshadowing  of  a  single 
turnpike.  There  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  northern  section 
of  the  county  would  ever  equal  —  much  less  excel  —  its  favored 
southern  sister,  either  in  wealth  or  people.  Pittsfield  was  thus,  in 
1781,  a  more  suitable  place  for  holding  the  courts  than  when, 
almost  upon  the  northern  frontier  of  settlement,  it  was  selected 
twenty  years  before ;  and  there  is  no  apparent  reason  other  than 
the  local  ambition  of  rival  towns  why  change  should  have  been 
desired.  The  suggestion  of  the  evils  of  a  divided  shire,  so  apparent 
as  to  show  the  necessity  of  concentration  of  all  the  courts  at  one 
place,  evidently  did  not  influence  the  first  agitators  of  the  subject. 

The  first  recorded  action  in  regard  to  a  change  was  in  Novem- 
ber, 1782,  when  the  legislature,  upon  the  petition  of  Asa  Barnes, 
a  prominent  citizen  of  Lauesborough,  acting  as  agent  for  that  and 
other  towns,  appointed  a  committee  "  to  repair  to  the  county  of 
Berkshire,  take  a  general  view  of  it,  and  determine  where  the  courts 
shall  in  future  be  held." 

The  committee  —  Charles  Turner,  Esq.,  Gen.  Artemas  Ward,  and 
Hon.  John  Sprague  —  visited  the  county  in  June,  met  the  delegates 
of  twenty-two  towns  at  Stockbridge,  and  made  such  an  examination 
of  the  county  as  they  thought  necessary,  or  the  delegates  desired. 
The  result  was  a  recommendation,  which  the  legislature  adopted, 
that,  after  the  1st  of  January,  1784,  the  courts  should  be  held  at 
Lenox,  in  some  convenient  place  between  the  meeting-house  and 
the  dwelling  of  Capt.  Charles  Dibble.  This  act  passed  in  February, 
1783 ;  and,  in  the  little  parliament  which  assembled  around  the 
General  Sessions  at  the  Great  Barrington  term  in  May,  a  petition 
was  set  on,  foot  praying  for  an  indefinite  postponement  of  the 
proposed  change,  upon  the  ostensible  ground  that  the  county  was 
too  poor  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  429 

The  legislature  granted  a  delay  of  two  years,  until  January, 
1786;  and  the  opponents  of  Lenox  made  a  busy  use  of  the  respite. 
In  the  fall  of  1784,  a  spirited  movement  was  entered  upon  for 
what  was  doubtless  the  object  of  the  Barnes  petition,  —  alternate 
courts  at  Great  Barrington  and  Lanesborough ;  but  the  project 
met  little  favor.  The  people,  however,  were  so  ill  content,  that 
the  legislature  submitted  the  matter  again  to  a  county  convention, 
which  assembled  at  Lenox,  Sept.  28,  sixteen  towns  being  repre- 
sented. This  convention  adjourned,  after  appointing  Woodbridge 
Little  of  Pittsfield,  Timothy  Edwards  of  Stockbridge,  and  William 
"Whiting  of  Great  Barrington,  a  committee  to  receive  the  proposals 
of  the  several  towns  which  desired  to  become  the  county  seat. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  this  committee  sent  out  circulars  to  all 
the  towns  in  the  county;  of  which  the  following  paragraphs  form 
the  gist :  — 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  a  committee  of  said  convention,  beg  leave  to  inform 
you,  that  it  is  the  wish  and  desire  of  said  convention,  that  you,  without  fail, 
send  one  or  more  delegates  to  attend  in  a  county  convention  to  be  holden 
by  adjournment  at  Lenox,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  November  next,  at  the 
dwelling-house  of  Capt.  Charles  Dibble,  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  forenoon. 

"  The  following  proposals  are  submitted  to  your  consideration ;  and  it  is 
desired,  that,  in  your  deliberations,  you  will  attend  to  the  same,  and  instruct 
and  direct  your  delegate  or  delegates  in  what  place  or  places  it  is  the  choice 
of  your  town  that  the  courts  in  and  for  said  county  shall  be  holden. 

"  The  proposals  are  as  follows :  — 

"  Great  Barrington  will  repair  the  court-house  in  said  town,  and  furnish 
and  provide  a  sufficient  jail  in  said  town  for  the  safe  keeping  of  prisoners, 
and  for  this  propose  to  give  ample  security,  provided  one-half  of  the  courts 
be  established  in  said  town. 

"  Lanesborough  will  build  and  complete  a  good,  sufficient,  and  elegant 
court-house  in  that  town,  and  propose  to  give  ample  security  therefor, 
provided  one-half  of  the  courts  be  established  in  that  town. 

"  Pittsfield  will  be  at  the  sole  expense  of  erecting  a  court-house  equal  in 
value  and  elegance  to  the  court-house  in  Northampton,  and  propose  to  give 
ample  security  therefor,  provided  one-half  of  the  courts  be  established  in 
said  town,  and  the  other  half  in  Stockbridge. 

"  Stockbridge  will  give  the  sum  of  five  hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds 
and  ten  shillings  towards  the  public  buildings  for  said  county,  provided  one- 
half  of  the  courts  be  established  in  said  town,  and  the  other  half  at  Pitts- 
field  ;  and  further  propose  to  give  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
and  ten  shillings,  if  all  the  courts  shall  be  established  in  Stockbridge ;  and 
propose  to  give  ample  security  for  the  respective  sums,  as  the  case  may 
require. 


430  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

"  Lenox  will  give  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  pounds  towards  the  public 
buildings,  and  propose  to  give  ample  security  therefor,  provided  all  the 
courts  are  finally  established  in  that  town. 

"  And  it  is  further  proposed  that  the  securities  above  mentioned  be  laid 
before  said  adjourned  convention,  that  they  may  be  able  to  determine  upon 
them,  as  they  shall  judge  proper.1 

The  convention  met,  according  to  adjournment,  at  the  house  of 
Capt.  Charles  Dibble,  in  Lenox,  and  chose  Nathaniel  Bishop  scribe. 
Delegates  were  present  from  nineteen  towns,  viz. :  — 

From  Sheffield,  Col.  Root,  Mr.  Raymond ;  Alford,  Capt.  Brunson  ;  New 
Marlborough,  Capt.  Taylor ;  Sandisfield,  Capt.  Kellogg ;  Tyringham,  Mr. 
Gaffield  [Garfield],  Mr.  Jackson ;  Becket,  Mr.  Brown ;  Washington,  Capt. 
Ashley  ;  Lee,  William  Ingersoll,  Esq.,  Capt.  Bradley ;  Stockbridge,  John 
Bacon,  Esq.,  Jahleel  Woodbridge,  Esq.,  Timothy  Edwards,  Esq. ;  Richmont,'J 
Gen.  Rossiter,  Nathaniel  Bishop,  Esq. ;  Lenox,  Gen.  Patterson,  Col.  Hyde, 
Israel  Dewey,  Esq.,  Capt.  Gray,  William  Walker,  Esq. ;  Pittsfield,  Eli  Root, 
Esq.,  Mr.  [Dr.]  Childs ;  Lanesborough,  Gideon  Wheeler,  Esq. ;  Hancock, 
Samuel  Hand,  Esq. ;  Dalton,  Capt.  Cleveland ;  Partridgeficld,  Mr.  Kenny ; 
Great  Barrington,  William  Whiting,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Nash,  Esq.,  Mr.  Elisba 
Lee,  Major  King,  Mr.  Younglove ;  West  Stockbridge,  Mr.  Hooker. 

The  propositions  from  the  several  towns  which  had  made  offers 
in  regard  to  the  county  seat  were  laid  before  the  convention,  and 
pronounced  ample  in  each  case. 

The  question  was  then  put  whether  the  courts  "  should  in  future 
be  holden  in  two  towns,  or  in  one  only ; "  and  the  vote  stood  as 
follows:  — 

For  one  town  only,  —  Tyringharn,  Becket,  Washington,  Lee,  Stockbridge, 
Richmout,  Williamstown,  Partridgefield,  West  Stockbridge,  Lenox,  —  ten. 

For  two  towns,  —  Sheffield,  Alford,  New  Marlborough,  Sandisfield,  Pitts- 
field,  Lanesborough,  Hancock,  Dalton,  Great  Barrington,  —  nine. 

The  convention  then  selected  Lenox  for  the  shire-town  by  the 
following  vote :  — 

For  Stockbridge,  —  Sheffield,  Alford,  New  Marlborough,  Sandisfield,  Ty- 
ringham, Lee,  Stockbridge,  West  Stockbridge,  —  eight. 

For  Lenox,  —  Becket,  Washington,  Richmont,  Lenox,  Lanesborough, 
Williamstown,  Hancock,  Dalton,  Partridgefield,  Great  Barrington,  —  ten? 

1  This  circular,  which  is  signed  by  Woodbridge  Little  in  behalf  and  by  order 
of  the  committee,  is  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Pittsfield. 

2  The  town  of  Richmond  was  originally  incorporated,  owing  to  a  clerical  error, 
as  Richmont ;  and  it  was  many  years  before  the  mistake  was  corrected  by  the  le- 
gislature. 

3  The  record  of  the  November  convention  is  in  the  collection  of  papers  relating 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  431 

Pittsfield  did  not  vote;  having  probably  determined  to  contest 
in  the  legislature  the  decision  of  the  convention  in  favor  of  a 
single  shire-town.  There  was,  in  fact,  throughout  the  county, 
much  dissatisfaction  with  the  proceedings  we  have  related ;  and, 
in  1785,  so  general  and  spirited  was  the  opposition,  that  it  appeared 
to  the  General  Court  that  "the  inhabitants  of  several  towns  in  the 
county  are  dissatisfied  that  the  courts  should  be  held  at  Lenox,  as 
by.  law  established : "  and,  as  it  was  "  important  that  some  place  or 
places  should  be  determined  upon  for  that  purpose  as  soon  as 
might  be,"  Hon.  Caleb  Strong,  Warham  Parks,  and  David  Smead, 
Esqs.,  were  commissioned  to  view  the  towns  of  Great  Barrington, 
Stockbridge,  Lenox,  Pittsfield,  and  Lanesborough,"  —  the  promi- 
nent candidates  for  favor, —  and  such  other  places  as  might  enable 
them  to  determine  the  object  of  their  commission  justly ;  to  ac- 
quaint themselves  with  the  roads  passing  through  the  county,  and 
the  communications  between  the  interior  and  exterior  towns ;  to 
pay  due  attention  to  situation,  and  the  probability  of  future  settle- 
ment; to  hear  such  representations  as  might  be  made  to  them 
upon  the  subject ;  and  then  to  fix  upon  some  proper  place  or 
places,  and,  if  they  shall  find  more  than  one  necessary,  to  deter- 
mine what  terms  shall  be  held  at  each  respectively,  and  which 
should  be  the  shire-town." 

The  committee  met  the  deputies  of  the  towns  at  Pittsfield  on 
the  llth  of  May,  when  all  were  represented  except  New  Ashford, 
West  Stockbridge,  Becket,  Sandisfield,  and  New  Marlborough ; 
"  and  it  was  agreed  what  the  predilections  of  those  towns  severally 
were."  A  very  thorough  examination  of  the  county,  in  accordance 
with  the  instructions  of  the  legislature,  was  then  made.  The  result 
was,  that  the  committee  "were  clearly  and  unanimously  of  opinion 
that  it  would  not  be  for  the  interest  or  peace  of  the  county  to 
have  all  the  courts  fixed  at  any  one  place  ;  but  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  county  would  be  best  accommodated  *by  having  the  courts 
held  alternately  at  Stockbridge  and  Pittsfield,  and  that  Stock- 
bridge  should  be  the  shire-town,"  and  that  the  terms  of  the  Su- 
perior Court  should  be  held  at  that  place. 

The  legislature,  governed  by  reasons  of  which  we  have  no 
knowledge,  adhered  to  its  election  of  Lenox,  notwithstanding  the 
emphatically  adverse  report  of  its  own  able  commission. 

It  would  have  been  strange  if  the  opposition  of  Pittsfield,  dur- 

to  the  history  of  Berkshire  belonging  to  Charles  J.  Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Great  Bar- 
rington. 


432  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

ing  the  Revolution,  to  the  courts  set  up  by  the  legislature,  and  to 
the  policy  pi-evalent  at  the  east,  had  not  left  a  prejudice  against 
her  upon  the  minds  of  the  public  men  of  that  section,  of  which  it 
would  have  been  easy  for  shrewd  managers  in  the  lobby  or  on  the 
floor  to  have  taken  advantage ;  but  the  same  could  hardly  be  said 
of  Great  Harrington,  which,  in  1778,  had  been  the  only  town  in 
the  county  to  vote,  as  it  did  almost  unanimously,  in  favor  of 
admitting  the  civil  administration  of  the  State.  Lenox,  although 

o  *  o 

as  perversely  against  the  legislative  policy  as  her  neighbors,  was 
less  conspicuous.  But  Stockbridge  was  rather  conservative  in 
politics,  was  the  residence  of  many  eminent  and  influential  men, 
and  was  already  a  lovely  village,  whose  praise  was  in  the  mouths 
of  people  of  culture  and  intelligence  in  the  great  centres  of 
opinion. 

It  is  observable,  that  when  the  movement  for  the  change  in  the 
courts  was  begun,  for  the  two  years  1782  and  1783,  Pittsfield  was 
unrepresented  in  the  General  Court,  and  in  the  former  year  was 
fined  £36.  6s.  3d.  for  neglecting  to  send  a  representative.  In  1784 
Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  and  in  1785  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich,  were 
chosen,  and  probably  commanded  as  much  influence  at  Boston  as 
any  who  could  have  been  selected.  In  the  same  years,  there  were 
in  the  legislature,  from  Berkshire,  such  men  as  Theodore  Sedg- 
wick,  Jahleel  Woodbridge,  and  John  Bacon,  of  Stockbridge  ;  Eli- 
jah Dwight  of  Great  Barrington ;  William  Walker  of  Lenox ;  and 
Jonathan  Smith  of  Lanesborough :  and  all  doubtless  exhibited  the 
regard  for  their  respective  places  of  residence  which  is  natural  and 
creditable;  and  it  would  be  pardonable  if  their  judgments  were 
warped  by  local  predilections. 

Geographically,  as  between  the  north  and  south,  the  centre  of  the 
county  is  nearly  on  the  south  line  of  Pittsfield,  about  equidistant 
from  the  Pittsfield  Park  and  the  Lenox  Court-house  ;  but,  in  1785, 
the  centre  of  wealth  and  population  was  considerably  to  the  south 
of  the  latter  point,  probably  in  the  neighborhood  of  "  Old  Stock- 
bridge  on  the  plain."  If  the  courts  were  all.  to  be  held  at  one 
point,  the  selection  of  Lenox,  therefore,  favored  the  north  rather 
than  the  south. 

Even  if  the  General  Sessions  manifested  any  great  alacrity, 
which  is  not  apparent,  in  complying  with  the  act  of  the  legislature 
in  establishing  the  shire-town,  the  state  of  the  county  precluded 
an  immediate  provision  to  carry  it  out.  The  year  1786,  it  will  be 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSF1ELD.  433 

remembered,  was  that  of  the  Shays  Rebellion,  and  was  certainly 
an  unhappy  one  for  raising  taxes  in  Berkshire  for  any  purpose, 
and  most  of  all  for  the  erection  of  court-houses  and  juils. 

The  court  of  General  Sessions  held  at  Pittsfield  in  May,  1786, 
nevertheless  directed  Eli  Root,  John  C.  Williams,  and  Simon 
Earned,  all  of  that  town,  to  prepare  a  plan  for  the  public  buildings 
to  be  built  at  Lenox,  and  report  what  materials  would  be  required. 
Eli  Root  was  also  appointed  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resig- 
nation of  Theodore  Sedgwick  on  a  commission  previously  named 
to  select  a  proper  site. 

The  succeeding  terms  of  the  court  being  obstructed  by  the  Shays 
men,  the  committees  had  no  opportunity  to  report  until  May,  1787, 
even  if  they  desired  to  do  so.  But,  early  in  that  year,  to  have 
the  Berkshire  courts  settled,  the  legislature,  rendered  impatient  by 
the  exciting  events  which  had  just  transpired  in  the  county,  made 
a  peremptory  order  that  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  should  be 
held  at  Lenox  in  the  ensuing  February,  and  the  Supreme  Court  in 
May.  The  first  term  of  the  Common  Pleas  recorded  to  have  been 
held  there  opened  Sept.  11,  1787. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  at  the  May 
tefm  held  at  Great  Barrington,  selected  Theodore  Sedgwick  and 
John  Bacon  of  Stockbridge,  and  Major  Azariah  Eggleston  of 
Lenox,  to  determine  upon  a  site  and  contract  for  the  erection  of 
the  buildings,  which  David  Rossiter,  Nathaniel  Bishop  of  Rich- 
mond, and  Benjamin  Pierce  were  directed  to  superintend,  and 
have  finished  as  soon  as  possible.  The  county  buildings  were 
actually  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1788.  The  jail  was  finished, 
and  the  prisoners  were  removed  to  it  from  Great  Barrington,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1790 ;  the  court-house  was  completed  in  1791  or 
1792:  the  cost  o'f  the  two  buildings  being  £3,441.  5s.,  3<Z.,  towards 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Field,  "  individuals  in  Lenox  advanced,  in 
building  materials,  £800."  The  court-house,  a  wooden  building, 
now  the  Lenox  town-hall,  stood  a  few  rods  south  of  that  now  about 
to  be  abandoned  by  the  courts,  which  was  erected  in  1815,  and  has 
been  several  times  remodelled.  The  first  jail  was  built  upon  a 
hill  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  village,  on  the  old  Stockbridge 
Road. 

28 


CHAPTER    XXIY. 

THE  MEETING-HOUSE  OF  1790. 
[1789-1793.] 

Accommodations  for  Religious  Worship  in  1 790.  —  Plans  for  a  New  Meeting-House. 
—  Items  from  the  Assessment  of  1791.  —  Sale  of  Continental  Money.  —  Mate- 
rials for  the  New  Meeting-House.  —  Location  of  the  House.  —  Salvation  of  the 
Elm,  and  Creation  of  the  Park. — Building  of  the  House.  —  Disputes  about 
Pews.  —  The  First  Bell.  —  Destruction  of  the  Old  Meeting-House.  —  Ball- 
Playing  forbidden  on  the  Common.  —  Town  House  and  Academy  erected. — 
Protection  for  the  Burial-Ground.  —  John  Chandler  Williams.  —  Madam 
Williams. 

MESSRS.  Oliver  Partridge  and  Moses  Graves,  in  1762,  ex- 
pressed to  the  General  Court  their  opinion,  thnt  the  little 
meeting-house  then  building,  with  perplexed  and  prolonged  effort, 
by  the  poor  proprietors  of  settling-lots  at  Poontoosuck,  would  be 
insufficient  to  contain  the  inhabitants  when  sixty  families  should 
be  in  town. 

It  was,  however,  made  to  answer,  with  no  loud  complaints 
of  inconvenience,  until,  after  thirty  troubled  years,  Pittsfield,  in 
1790,  had  attained  a  population  of  two  thousand,  of  which  about 
two  hundred  were  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  and  Shakers. 

The  Baptists  had  a  meeting-house,  unfinished,  in  the  West  Part ; 
the  Shakers,  another  in  the  south-west ;  and  the  Episcopalians  held 
divine  service,  with  lay  reading,  oftenest  in  the  spacious  parlors  of 
the  Van  Schaack  mansion.  But  the  attendance  upon  all  these 
places  of  worship  could  not  have  sensibly  diminished  the  congre- 
gation at  the  old  meeting-house  where  Mr.  Allen  ministered  to  the 
"  standing  order." 

Irreligious  habits,  contracted  in  years  of  Avar  or  popular  tumult, 
contributed  more  sadly  to  lessen  the  number  of  constant  worship- 
pers ;  and  the  unattractive  edifice  drew  within  its  narrow  walls 

434 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  435 

few  whom  the  spirit  of  devotion,  habit,  or  public  opinion,  did  not 
compel  thither. 

But  it  appears  from  one  of  the  resolutions  quoted  in  the  last 
chapter,  that  the  growing  necessity  for  a  larger  building  was 
admitted,  and  that  its  location  was  one  of  the  points  in  dispute 
among  the  people.  Perhaps  the  existing  dissensions  had  hindered 
the  earlier  undertaking  of  the  work.  Certainly  the  erection  of  a 
commodious  and  creditable  house  of  worship  was  a  task  of  no 
small  magnitude  as  the  town  was  then  situated,  and  one  for  whose 
successful  accomplishment  united  and  amicable  effort  was  so  essen- 
tial that  it  furnished  a  powerful  inducement  to  that  spirit  of 
mutual  forbearance  which  prevailed  in  the  June  meeting  of  1788. 

The  first  town  action  toward  a  new  meeting-house  was  on  the 
13th  of  April,  1789,  when  the  following  committee  was  appointed 
to  report  a  plan,  with  the  estimated  cost :  Woodbridge  Little, 
Daniel  Hubbard,  Timothy  Childs,  Joel  Stevens,  Simon  Lamed, 
Ebenezer  White,  Oswald  Williams,  David  Bush,1  and  John 
Chandler  Williams. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  the  committee  reported,  that,  in  their 
opinion,  it  was  necessary  to  build  a  meeting-house  seventy  feet 
long,  exclusive  of  porch  and  balcony,  and  fifty-one  feet  wide ;  that 
it  was  expedient  to  raise  and  cover  the  frame,  paint,  and  glaze,  in 
one  year,  of  which  the  cost  would  be  £701.  Is.  2d.;  and  that  this 
would  be  about  two-thirds  of  the  entire  expense.  The  question 
of  finishing  the  interior  they  left  to  future  consideration,  with  the 
design  of  postponing  as  long  as  possible  the  differences  of  opinion 
which  were  sure  to  arise  regarding  the  mode  of  "seating  the 
house." 

The  report  was  accepted,  and  the  following  tommittee  was 
appointed  to  collect  material :  David  Bush,  Joel  Stevens,  John 
Chandler  Williams,  Simon  Larned,  John  Partridge,  Oliver  Root, 
Josiah  Moseley,  Dan  Cadwell,  and  Joel  Dickinson. 

This  committee  were  instructed  to  give  every  person,  as  fnr  as 
convenient,  a  chance  to  pay  his  proportion  of  the  cost  in  material 
and  labor,  and  to  contract  with  the  town  debtors  for  payment 
in  the  same  manner  as  far  as  they  thought  advantageous.  The 
"  Book  of  Credits "  does  not  distinguish  between  the  receipts  on 

1  There  were  at  this  time  two  citizens  of  the  name  of  David  Bush  in  active  life, 
father  and  son  ;  and  the  records  rarely  distinguish  which  is  intended. 


436  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

account  of  taxes  and  those  in  payment  of  debt ;  but  otherwise 
they  are  very  minute,  and  show  from  whose  contribution  almost 
every  constituent  of  the  building  came,  —  from  Dr.  Timothy  Child's 
eighty-feet  stick  of  timber  to  the  laborer's  day's  work  or  few  bushels 
of  lime.  Thus,  Stephen  Fowler,  who  lies  buried  in  the  Pilgrim's 
Rest  at  the  new  cemetery,  brought  the  ridgepole ;  Capt.  Charles 
Goodrich,  two  sills;  William  Partridge,  Josiah  and  Isaac  Ward,  a 
large  stick ;  Col.  Oliver  Root,  fifty  feet  of  oak  posts  and  forty-six 
feet  of  oak  plates  ;  Mrs.  Stoddard  and  Mrs.  Dickinson,  widows  of 
old  friends,  but  leaders  in  opposing  parties  during  the  Revolution, 
united  in  contributing  a  pillar  twenty  feet  long  and  a  pine  beam 
seventy  feet ;  Zebulon  Stiles,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  now 
a  slumberer  in  the  Pilgrim's  Rest,  brought  a  sill  fifty  feet  long ; 
and  Capt.  Jared  Ingersoll  contributed,  from  his  timber-land  in 
Lenox,  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  belfry  :  and  thus  through  all  the 
townsmen,  or  at  least  the  Congregational  portion  of  them.1 

There  is  no  intimation  of  any  voluntary  contributions,  and  there 
probably  were  none,  as  Joshua  Danforth  was  in  1793  directed  by  a 
vote  of  the  town  to  purchase  a  pulpit-cushion,  —  the  article  most 
likely  to  have  been  a  gift.  The  only  subscription-paper  extant, 
connected  with  the  building,  is  one  to  be  paid  in  grain ;  and  it 
expressly  provides  that  the  amounts  contributed  were  to  be 
deducted  from  the  giver's  next  tax.  A  small  portion  of  the  taxes 
were  paid  in  coin ;  and  some  who  did  not  find  it  convenient  to 
make  payment  either  in  this  way  or  in  the  supply  of  material 
tendered  neat  cattle  or  grain,  —  a  species  of  property  which  long 
afterwards  continued,  as  it  had  been  long  before,  the  most 
convenient  circulating  medium  within  ordinary  reach. 

Some  items  of  interest  may  be  gathered  from  the  assessor's 
books;  and  we  take  at  random  that  of  1791,  when  £700  were 
assessed  for  "  finishing  the  meeting-house." 

The  polls  that  year  numbered  411  ;  the  real  and  personal  estate 
and  "  faculty  " 2  were  valued  at  £3,626.  4s.  Qd.  The  sum  assessed 
for  ordinary  town  charges  was  £297, —  a  little  more  than  one-third 
of  the  expense  of  finishing  the  meeting-house.  The  poll-tax  for 
town  purposes  was  four  shillings,  two  pence,  the  amount  assessed 

1  It  should  be  understood  that  the  articles  specified  were  only  a  portion  of  the 
contributions  of  most  of  the  persons  named. 

2  The  faculty  to  obtain  an  income  from  skill  in  the  learned  professions,  the 
arts,  in  mercantile  business,  or  the  like. 


HISTOKY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  437 

upon  estates  and  faculty,  one  shilling,  two  pence,  in  the  pour.cl. 
The  State  tax  of  the  town  was  £132 ;  and  that  for  the  support  of 
the  minister,  part  of  whose  salary  came  from  other  sources,  £58. 

To  raise  the  sum  of  £700  voted  for  finishing  the  meeting-house, 
a  poll-tax  of  ten  shillings,  four  pence,  was  assessed ;  which,  if  all  had 
paid,  —  from  Charles  Goodrich  down  to  Hazle-Blossom,  negro,  — 
would  have  produced  £'212.  7s.  From  estates  and  faculty,  2s.  Qd. 
in  the  pound  was  levied ;  producing  £496.  12s.  2 d. 

The  heaviest  real-estate  tax-payers  were  as  follows :  Charles 
Goodrich,  who  owned  more  than  a  thousand  acres  in  the  east  part, 
£10.  10s.  Id. ;  James  D.  Colt,  who  owned  one  thousand  acres  in  the 
south-west,  £9.  15s.  Qd. ;  Henry  Van  Schaack,  an  Episcopalian, 
who  was  also  assessed  about  £4.  on  personal  property,  £6. 15s.  6d. ; 
Daniel  Hubbard,  £5.  7s.  lid.;  Hannah,  widow  of  Col.  William 
Williams,  £5.  6s.  10(7.  /  Nathaniel  Robbins,  £5.  5s.  Gd. 

The  well-to-do  farmers  paid  from  one  pound  to  four ;  but  by  far 
the  greater  portion  of  the  assessments  were  reckoned  in  shillings. 
Oliver  Wendell,  Margaret  Phillips  (grandmother  of  Mr.  Wendell 
Phillips),  Catharine  Wendell,  and  other  heirs  of  the  first  pur- 
chaser of  the  town,  paid  about  £4  upon  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  acres  still  retained  by  them  ;  and  the  non-resident 
heirs  of  Col.  Stoddard  paid  a  proportionate  tax  upon  about  eight 
hundred  acres.  John  Chandler  Williams  was  assessed  £3.  17s.  8d. 
on  real  estate,  18s.  personal,  and  £1.  4s.  9d.  on  faculty.  This  was 
the  highest  tax  on  faculty ;  the  next  being  paid  by  Col.  Danforth, 
who  was  postmaster,  held  other  public  offices,  and  was  also  in 
mercantile  business.  Col.  Danforth  also  was  honored  with  the 
largest  assessment  on  personal  property,  —  £7.  On  faculty,  Daniel 
Weller,  a  tanner,  paid  £1.  2s./  Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  16s.  6d. ; 
Thomas  Gold,  a  lawyer,  13s.  6c?./  Joel  Dickinson,  the  master- 
builder  of  the  meeting-house,  13s.  Qd.  Ministers  of  the  gospel 
were  exempt  from  taxation. 

The  sum  of  £600  thus  assessed  proved  to  be  about  one-third  the 
whole  cost  of  building ;  and  as  nearly  one-third  of  that  expense  was 
defrayed  by  the  application  of  the  debts  due  the  town,  and  from 
the  sale  of  other  property,  a  fair  idea  of  the  whole  taxation  for 
meeting-house  purposes  can  be  gained  by  doubling  the  items  given. 

The  town  in  March,  1791,  ordered  the  building  committee  to  sell 
the  "  old  Continental  money  and  paper  securities  in  the  treasury 
for  solid  coin,"  and  apply  the  proceeds  to  the  purchase  of  lead  for 


438  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

the  meeting-house.  The  paper  securities  consisted  of  loan-office 
certificates,  whose  "  specie  value,  by  the  scale,"  was  $93.40,  and 
"Hardy's  indents"  to  the  amount  of  $48.  The  Continental 
money  amounted  to  £3,097 ;  which  had  been  handed  down  in  sealed 
packages  from  treasurer  to  treasurer,  awaiting  the  revival  of  the 
national  credit.  The  whole  was  now  sold  for  the  pittance  of 
£40.  10s.,  as  appears  from  the  record ;  although  —  owing  to  the  use 
of  that  last  resort  of  a  lazy  pen,  an  "  et  cetera  "  —  the  accounts  do 
not  show  with  absolute  certainty  whether  the  certificates  were 
included  in  the  sale. 

The  expenditure  for  lead  was  £39.  17s.  6e?.,  and  the  freight  upon 
it  to  Kinderhook  was  \1d.  /  so  that  this  item  seems  to  have  been 
kept  strictly  within  the  appropriation. 

From  such  various  sources,  means  were  obtained  to  meet  the 
expenditures  until  they  reached  the  sum  of  £2,188.  19*.  6d. ;  which 
proved  to  be  the  final  cost  of  the  structure. 

This  increase  to  double  the  original  estimate  was  perhaps  attribut- 
able in  part  to  the  natural  proclivity  of  architects  to  under-estimates 
of  cost,  but  was  chiefly  due  to  the  increased  size  of  the  building 
over  that  of  the  plan  accepted  by  the  town,  to  the  purchase  of  a 
bell,  and  probably  to  the  addition,  in  the  enthusiasm  elicited  by  the 
progress  of  the  work,  of  some  luxuries  which  were  not  at  first 
contemplated.  The  house,  without  any  authority  so  far  as  appears 
from  the  record,  was  built  ninety  feet  long,  exclusive  of  the  pro- 
jecting porch,  and  fifty-five  feet  wide. 

Although  we  find  no  intimation  of  any  voluntary  contributions, 
such  as  would  now  be  made  for  a  similar  purpose,  yet  the  whole 
assessment  was  only  the  equitable  distribution  of  a  burden  which 
the  community,  with  the  eager  consent  of  almost  all  its  members, 
had  imposed  upon  itself;  and  doubtless  the  great  majority  were 
more  liberal  in  responding  to  the  requisitions  of  the  committee 
than  they  would  have  been  in  private  bargaining.  Tradition  is, 
indeed,  full  of  the  zeal  with  which  the  fathers  of  the  town  sought 
out  the  choicest  products  of  their  forests,  —  for  Berkshire  woods 
were  forests  then,  —  and  the  glee  with  which  they  brought  them  to 
the  appointed  spot. 

Certainly  the  material  contributed  for  the  new  temple,  which 
was  to  be  the  pride  and  the  pet  of  the  town,  was  not  only  abun- 
dant in  quantity,  but  of  the  best  quality  which  the  rich  forests  of 
the  neighborhood  could  afford.  The  spring  of  1790  found  the  open 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  439 

space  now  occupied  by  the  Park  piled  high  with  a  still  accumu- 
lating mass  of  stone,  and  such  lumber  as  the  valley  has  now  not 
seen  for  many  a  long  year. 

But,  before  use  could  be  made  of  it,  a  preliminary  of  no  little 
difficulty  remained  to  be  settled.  The  vote,  that  the  location 
of  the  new  meeting-house  should  be  determined  by  disinterested 
non-residents,  seems  to  have  been  disregarded ;  for  on  the  5th  of 
April,  1790,  David  Bush,  jun.,  in  behalf  of  a  committee,  reported 
that  in  their  opinion  "  the  meeting-house  front  door  should  face  the 
south ;  that  it  should  stand  on  the  same  ground  that  the  old 
meeting-house  covered  ;  that  the  front  sill  should  be  on  the  north 
line  of  the  highway ;  that  the  west  side  of  the  house  should  be 
about  three  feet  west  of  the  west  side  of  the  old  meeting-house ; 
and  that  the  committee  would  have  been  willing  to  have  carried  it 
still  farther  west  could  it  have  been  done  without  incommoding 
the  monument  of  the  late  Col.  William  Williams."1 

The  meeting-house  was  located  within  a  few  feet  of  his  monu- 
ment, and,  if  it  had  not  been  in  the  way,  would  doubtless  have 
been  placed  with  only  a  small  court-yard  between  it  and  North 
Street.  The  monument  now  stands  south-west  of  St.  John's  Lake, 
in  the  new  cemetery. 

The  report  was  adopted ;  but  the  location  thus  fixed  was  dis- 
tasteful to  a  portion  of  the  citizens,  for  a  reason  which  curiously 
illustrates  the  delight  which  was  anticipated  in  gazing  upon  the 
new  building.  Placed  upon  the  proposed  site,  it  would  not  be 
visible  from  the  greater  portion  of  West  Street,  while,  if  carried 
southward  into  the  highway,  the  more  ornamental  portions  would 
delight  the  eye  of  the  traveller  from  the  west  on  his  way  to 
church  or  to  market;  nay,  some  of  the  more  favored  denizens  of 
that  region  could  daily,  in  their  homes,  revel  in  the  contemplation 
of  its  graces,  perhaps — who  could  tell  ? — be  made  better  Christians 
by  this  constant  reminder  of  sacred  things. 

Twenty-three  voters  —  principally  those  personally  interested  — 
accordingly  requested  a  town-meeting,  and  were  able  to  carry  a 
vote  to  place  the  meeting-house  seven  feet  further  south  than  had 
been  previously  determined. 

But  for  this  it  was  necessary  to  fell  the  tall  and  graceful  elm  — 
fairer  than  any  work  of  man's  hand  —  which  had  been  spared  by 
the  first  settlers  for  its  conspicuous  beauty. 

tr 

1  Col.  Williams  died  in  1785. 


440  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

It  must  have  even  then  entwined  itself  in  the  affections  of  many 
of  the  people  ;  but  its  destruction  seemed  inevitable,  and  the  first 
strokes  of  the  axe  had  already  wounded  its  devoted  trunk,  when  it 
was  saved  by  the  spirited  opposition  of  a  noble  woman. 

It  happened,  by  a  fortunate  chance,  that,  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  the  handsome  mansion  on  the  site  now  between  Park 

• 


JOHN    CHANDLER    WILLIAMS'S    HOUSE. 


Square  and  Williams  Avenue  had  been  purchased  by  John  Chan- 
dler Williams,  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  refined  tastes,  who  was 
also  blest  with  an  equally  gifted  wife. 

It  may  well  be  imagined  with  what  feelings  they  watched  the 
impending  destruction  of  the  splendid  old  relic  of  the  forest,  which 
formed  so  unique  an  ornament  of  their  neighborhood.  So  intense 
was  the  excitement  of  Mrs.  Williams  in  view  of  the  intended  sac- 
rilege, that  she  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and,  finding  the  most 
passionate  entreaties  vain,  threw  herself  between  the  tree  and  the 
axe,  and  at  last  procured  a  postponement  of  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion until  the  matter  could  again  be  considered  by  the  town.  The 
elm  treasured  the  kindly  act  in  its  heart;  and  when  it  fell,  full  of 
years  and  honors,  the  tradition  of  its  romantic  salvation  was  found 
corroborated  by  the  scars  of  three  axe-strokes  embedded  in  its  an- 
nal  of  1790. 

The  immediate  danger  past,  Mr.  Williams  completed  the  good 
work  which  his  wife  had  begun,  by  proposing  to  give  to  the  town, 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  441 

fora  common,  so  much  of  his  land  south  of  The  Elm  as  they  would 
leave  of  space  between  that  point  and  the  meeting-house.  The 
generous  offer  was  accepted ;  and  thus  Pittsfield  acquired  the 
ground  for  the  beautil'ul  little  park  now  so  attractive  by  its  grace- 
ful circlet  of  elms  and  its  sparkling  fountain,  and  so  hallowed  by 
patriotic  memories.  « 

The  first  entry  in  the  construction  account  for  the  meeting- 
house—  it  was  a  charge  for  the  inevitable  rum  —  was  made  on  the 
same  10th  of  May,  when  the  site  was  finally  determined;  and 
thenceforward  the  work  went  briskly  on  under  the  direction  of 
Col.  Joshua  Danforth,  John  Chandler  Williams,1  and  Daniel  Wel- 
ler,  who  in  March  had  been  elected  a  building-committee. 

Col.  Bulfinch  of  Boston,  an  architect  of  repute,  furnished  the 
designs,  in  accordance  with  which  the  new  building  became  one 

O          '  O 

of  the  finest  specimens  of  those  well-proportioned,  cheery,  wooden 
structTares,  with  Grecian  ornamentation,  which,  very  similar  in 
their  general  character,  were  about  that  time  scattered  through 
the  more  thrifty  villages  of  New  England;  the  contemporaries  of 
those  homes  of  stately  comfort,  the  square,  flat-roofed,  and  balus- 
traded  mansions,  of  broad  halls  and  spacious  parlors,  like  those 
erected  in  Pittsfield  by  Henry  Van  Schaack  and  Ashbell  Strong. 

Capt.  Joel  Dickinson,  a  skilful  mechanic,  was  selected  as  master- 
builder,  and  took  charge  on  the  18th  of  April. 

The  site  selected  was  upon  a  ledge  of  hard,  light-gray  limestone, 
or  marble,  with  a  silicious  intermixture  ingrained ;  and  the  cellar, 
even  under  the  costly  edifice  which  now  occupies  the  spot,  is  a 
very  rude  affair,  excavated  by  enlarging  the  crevices  of  the  rocks. 
So  thin  was  the  overlaying  soil,  that  few  graves  had  been  made 
in  it. 

May  was  spent  in  preparing  the  foundation ;  the  principal  ex- 
penditures noted  being  for  rum,  powder,  wedges,  and  fixing  sheds. 
Rum,  from  the  laying  of  the  foundation  to  the  dedication,  was  a 
large  item  in  the  construction  accounts.  One  charge,  a  fair  speci- 
men of  many,  was  "£4.  8s.  for  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  rations 
of  rum  in  five  weeks."  The  house  was  raised  and  covered,  and 
probably  painted  and  glazed,  in  1790.  Allusion  is  made  to  the 
raising  in  the  record  of  a  meeting  in  October  in  that  year,  which 
voted  three  shillings  a  day  extra  pay  to  David  Ashley  and  Butler 
Goodrich  for  extraordinary  services. 

• 

1  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


442  HISTOEY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 

The  frame  being  extremely  large  and  cumbrous,  and  the  mechan- 
ical appliances  for  managing  large  timbers  being  very  imperfect, 
it  was  necessary  that  workmen  should  go,  at  risk  of  life  and  limb, 
upon  elevated  or  exposed  portions  of  the  unfixed  roof  and  tower. 
This  essential  service  was  performed  by  Goodrich  and  Ashley,  then 
young  men  of  great  activity,  strength,  and  courage ;  and  it  was  in 
this  that  they  executed  those  feats  which  were  rewarded  by  the 
town,  and  have  been  remembered  by  tradition.  Ashley  soon  after- 
wards removed  to  the  West ;  but  his  compeer  lived  to  tell  the 
story  to  his  grandchildren,  as  the  venerable  "  Deacon  Goodrich." 

The  meeting  of  Oct.  4  also  appointed  a  committee  —  John 
Chandler  Williams,  Daniel  Hubbard,  and  Joshua  Danforth  —  to 
provide  material  for  finishing  the  house  ;  and  the  following  spring 
found  the  Common  again  cumbered  with  the  contributions  of  tax- 
payers and  town  debtors. 

But  another  of  the  local  differences  inevitable  at  every  stftge  in 
the  public  works  of  the  village  arose ;  and  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  consider  in  what  form  the  pews  should  be  made. 

The  committee  was  of  the  unusual  number  of  eleven,  attesting 
—  as  did  also  the  character  of  the  gentlemen  composing  it  —  the 
estimate  which  the  town  fixed  upon  the  importance  of  its  duties. 
It  consisted  of  Daniel  Hubbard,  Oliver  Root,  David  Bush,  sen., 
Joseph  Fairfield,  Joshua  Robbins,  Eli  Root,  James  D.  Colt,  J.  C. 
Williams,  Timothy  Childs,  and  Daniel  Sackett,  —  all  men  of  weight 
in  community,  and  most  of  them  of  advanced  years. 

This  committee  reported  that  it  would  be  most  convenient  to 
finish  the  side-galleries  with  a  set  of  pews  on  the  sides,  three  feet 
and  a  half  wide,  and  eleven  feet  and  eight  inches  long ;  an  alley 
of  convenient  width ;  and  then  two  seats  along  the  "  breastworks," 
and  two  cross-alleys  intersecting  the  whole  at  proper  intervals. 

Thus  far  the  committee  —  eight  being  present  —  were  unanimous. 
But,  with  regard  to  the  arrangement  of  the  lower  part  of  the  house, 
they  divided ;  a  majority  recommending  that  the  wall-pews  should 
be  made  "  of  the  length  and  width  of  a  pattern  which  had  been 
prepared,"  and  that  the  body-pews  should  be  seven  and  three- 
inches  long,  five  feet  ten  inches  wide."  This  report  was  accepted 
by  a  small  majority  ;  but  a  petition  was  at  once  presented  "  to  the 
gentlemen  selectmen,"  for  a  new  meeting,  to  see  whether  the  town 
would  reconsider  its  action,  and  adopt  a  more  uniform  plan  for  the 
lower  part  of  the  house ;  so  that  all  the  body-pews  might  be  six 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  443 

feet  three  inches  long,  and  five  feet  ten  inches  wide,  and  that  the 
side  wall-pews  might  be  eleven  feet  eight  inches  long,  and  six  feet 
wide,  or  that  all  the  pews  in  the  lower  part  of  the  meeting-house 
might  be  square,  or  as  nearly  so  as  the  ground  would  admit." 

In  those  days,  habits  of  thought,  social  customs,  and  laws  were 
slowly  and  reluctantly  conforming  themselves  to  the  spirit  of 
equality  which  the  Revolution  had  infused  into  the  Commonwealth ; 
and  there  was  often  more  in  the  apparently  trivial  village  con- 
tentions than  would  appear  from  a  casual  inspection  of  the 
records.  To  use  a  Yankee  illustration  for  a  Yankee  fact,  the  bird 
of  freedom  had  burst  its  shell,  but  was  still  busily  and  sometimes 
testily  engaged  in  pecking  its  young  plumage  to  get  rid  of  the 
adhering  fragments.  The  present  instance  was  a  skirmish  in  the 
struggle  to  abolish  that  strange  relic  of  the  stiff  old  Puritan  aris- 
tocracy,—  the  seating  a  congregation  according  to  the  estimate 
which  a  parish  committee  might  happen  to  form  of  the  relative 
"  dignities  "  of  the  individuals  composing  it. 

The  signers  of  the  petition  for  a  more  uniform  style  of  pews, 
unlike  the  majority  of  the  committee  of  eleven,  although  persons 
of  respectable  property  and  social  position,  were,  with  perhaps  two 
exceptions,  not  those  to  whom  the  highest  places  in  the  synagogue 
would  be  likely  to  fall. 

And  as  they  could  hardly  hope  to  do  away  entirely  with  the 
unchristian  distinctions  which  had  crept  into  the  temple  of  that 
worship  whose  Founder,  when  on  earth,  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head,  they  sought  to  render  them  less  galling  by  making  them  less 
conspicuous.  Although  no  record  is  found  of  the  disposition  which 
was  made  of  the  matter,  it  appears,  from  a  plan  of  the  house  after 
its  completion,  that  the  first  of  the  arrangements  suggested  by  the 
petitioners  was  actually  substituted  for  that  recommended  by 
the  committee  of  eleven. 

The  meeting-house  was  completed  in  1793,  although  some  of 
the  minor  details  of  the  work  may  have  been  left  until  the  next 
spring. 

The  marble  "  step-stones  "  —  the  same  which  still  serve  in  their 
old  place  before  the  new  church  —  were  drawn  by  a  long  string 
of  oxen,  and  with  jovial  escort,  from  quarries  in  Richmond,  about 
the  1st  of  February,  1793;  and  horse-blocks  were  brought  about 
the  same  time  to  aid  the  fairer  worshippers  in  dismounting  from 
their  pillions. 


444 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


The  first  bell  was  a  welcome  new-comer  in  1793.  It  was  of  the 
weight  of  seven  hundred  pounds  only,  but  possessed  a  peculiarly 
silvery  and  musical  tone,  whose  ringing  echoes  penetrated  even  to 
the  summits  of  Washington  Mountain  in  favorable  conditions  of 
the  atmosphere.  But  the  still-unsatisfied  people  must  needs 
replace  the  tongue,  which  the  maker  had  carefully  adjusted  to 
the  strength  of  the  sides,  with  one  of  heavier  metal ;  and  the 
experiment  met  the  usual  fate  of  overweening  ambition. 

The  way  being  thus  paved  for  a  more  ponderous  successor,  Col. 
Dan  forth  —  some  extravagant  propositions  being  set  aside  — 
was  instructed  to  take  the  broken  bell  to  some  founder,  and  have 


SECOND    MEETING-HODSE,    AND   FIRST   TOWN-HALL. 

it  cast  anew,  adding  not  more  than  three  hundred  weight  of 
metal;  so  that  the  second  bell  weighed  about  one  thousand  pounds. 

It  was  further  voted,  "in  order  to  secure  the  more  speedy 
execution  of  the  work,"  that  "those  gentlemen  who  may  subscribe 
and  pay  any  sum  of  money  in  advance  shall  have  credit  therefor  on 
their  next  tax;"  another  of  the  frequent  evidences  of  the  scarcity 
of  money  in  a  community  in  which  produce  was,  nevertheless,  so 
abundant,  that  it  was  able,  about  the  same  time,  to  respond  liberally 
to  the  application  of  the  selectmen  of  Boston  for  aid  to  those  left 
destitute  by  "  the  great  fire  "  in  that  town. 

The  fate  of  the  old  meeting-house  must  not  be  omitted  here. 
The  intention  of  removing  it  to  some  convenient  spot  Avhere 
it  might  continue  to  serve  for  a  town-hall  was  abandoned ;  and  a 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  445 

committee  was  appointed  to  sell  it.  But  the  sale  was  postponed 
so  long  that  the  old  building  became  a  source  of  danger  to  the 
new ;  for,  the  space  between  them  being  barely  sufficient  to  admit 
the  mortar-bed  which  was  placed  there,  the  lime  caught  fire,  and 
it  was  with  difficulty  the  flames  were  kept  from  spreading.  The 
removal  being  doubtless  hastened  by  the  narrow  escape,  the  old 
building  was  drawn  a  little  way  to  the  east,  when  its  rotten  timbers 
came  crashing  to  the  ground.  One  account  says  the  destruction 
was  intentional,  and  that  a  rope  was  attached  to  the  top  of  the 
building  at  which  the  people  pulled  "  with  a  will." 

Whether  the  old  men  who  had  aided  in  its  framing  shed  tears 
over  the  fallen  hall  of  so  many  grave  deliberations,  and  the  walls 
which  had  echoed  to  so  many  pious  exhortations,  —  as  their  descend- 
ants did  over  the  fallen  trunk  of  The  Old  Elm,  —  is  not  recorded ; 
but  the  village  urchins  mounted  the  crushed  roof  in  triumph,  and 
held  a  gleeful  jubilee  over  the  deposed  tyrant  of  their  sabbath 
hours.1 

In  all  the  action  of  the  town  regarding  the  new  meeting-house, 
it  is  noticeable  that  there  is  not  a  single  allusion  to  the  sacred 
purposes  for  which  it  was  designed,  in  record,  report,  or  petition  ; 
nor  is  there  any  indication  that  either  the  minister  or  the  church 
was  consulted  in  any  matter  connected  with  its  construction. 
And  it  is  still  more  remarkable,  that  there  is  no  intimation,  in  the 
records  of  the  church,  of  any  knowledge  on  their  part,  that  a  work 
was  in  progress  in  which  they  naturally  had  so  deep  an  interest, 
and  for  whose  successful  completion  they  doubtless  often  united 
in  prayer.  A  similar  statement  is  true  with  regard  to  the  building 
of  the  first  meeting-house ;  and,  indeed,  the  records  and  papers 
of  the  town  were  always  remarkably  free  from  those  pious  phrases 
and  professions  with  which  public  papers  in  Massachusetts  were 
wont  to  be  profusely  interlarded. 

Some  minutes,  however,  might  be  looked  for  of  provision  for 
the  dedication  of  the  meeting-houses  to  divine  service,  either  by 
the  church  or  the  town  :  but  none  has  been  found ;  and  the  only 
tradition  of  any,  that  is  preserved,  is  of  an  account  recently  in 
existence  which  is  said  to  have  shown  a  generous  consumption 
of  the  ingredients  of  punch. 

1  Among  the  urchin  crowd  was  Jared  Ingersoll,  afterwards  one  of  the  most 
gallant  captains  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  now  a  venerable  citizen  of  eighty-two 
years,  who  distinctly  remembers  the  scene. 


446  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

There  is  abundant  evidence,  however,  that  their  new  house  of 
worship  was  very  precious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Pittsfield  people 
of  1794,  and  that  their  hearts  swelled  with  local  pride  as  they 
introduced  to  its  really  beautiful  interior  the  frequent  strangers 
who  were  attracted  to  the  town  by  the  fame  of  its  splendors. 

Their  regard  for  its  neatness,  if  not  for  its  sanctity,  excluded 
town-meetings ;  and  this  resulted  in  the  erection  of  a  neat  hall, 
as  well  as  incidentally  in  a  great  improvement  of  the  grammar- 
school. 

After  the  destruction  of  their  old  haunt,  the  town-meetings 
were  held  in  the  "  middle  schoolhouse,"  which  stood  on  the  east 
of  The  Old  Elm.  This  was  exceedingly  incommodious;  and  a 
meeting  convened  in  it,  and  thus  having  a  realizing  'sense  of  its 
utter  unfitness  for  human  occupation,  appointed  a  committee  to 
consider  the  most  eligible  mode  of  keeping  a  grammar-school,  and 
to  take  into  consideration  the  sale  of  the  schoolhouse,  and  the 
erection  of -a  new  one,  which  might  serve  as  a  town-house. 

The  committee,  consisting  of  J.  C.  Williams,  Woodbridge  Little, 
and  Timothy  Childs,  reported  that  "a  house  ought  to  be  built 
abotit  forty-eight  or  fifty  feet  long  by  twenty-four  or  twenty-five 
wide,  two  stories  high,  with  a  flat  square  roof,  a  chimney  at  each 
end  ;  that  on  the  lower  floor  there  should  be  two  rooms,  one  for 
the  grammar  and  one  for  the  district  school ;  that  the  chamber 
should  be  fixed  with  convenient  seats,  rising  one  above  another  in 
the  form  of  a  gallery,  with  a  proper  arrangement  for  the  seats  of 
the  moderator,  selectmen,  and  town-clerk,  somewhat  as  in  the 
chamber  allotted  to  the  use  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
This  might  also  be  convenient  for  learning  to  sing  in,  and  for 
making  exhibitions  on  quarter-day." 

The  committee  thought  the  expense  might  be  £200,  or  perhaps 
£250 ;  and  they  submitted  a  plan  by  which  it  might  be  defrayed 
without  any  tax  on  the  town. 

In  accordance  with  this  report,  a  building  for  a  town  hall  and 
academy  was  erected  on  the  present  site  of  St.  Stephen's  Church. 
The  cost  slightly  exceeded  the  estimate ;  and  the  old  schoolhouse, 
which  probably  was  considered  too  luxurious  for  a  hog-pen  and 
not  good  enough  for  a  barn,  did  not  readily  find  a  purchaser ;  but, 
by  the  aid  of  a  tax  of  £75,  the  new  town-house  was  completed 
and  occupied  by  the  March  meeting  of  1793. 

The  safety  of  the  interior  of  the  meeting-house  being  secured 


HISTOBY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  447 

by  the  exclusion  of  the  town-meetings,  the  exterior  was  protected 
by  a  by-law  forbidding  "any  game  of  wicket,  cricket,  base-ball, 
bat-ball,  foot-ball,  cats,  fives,  or  any  other  game  played  with  ball," 
within  eighty  yards  of  the  precious  structure.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  the  lovers  of  muscular  sport  were  not  absolutely  ex- 
cluded from  the  tempting  lawn  of  the  "  Meeting-house  Common," 
as  the  letter  of  the  law  would  have  excluded  them. 

It  was,  indeed,  their  favorite  resort ;  but  Chandler  Williams  was 
ever  at  hand,  with  his  voice  of  courteous  warning,  to  ward  off  the 
threatened  bombardment,  when  the  danger  to  the  meeting-house 
windows  became  imminent. 

Another  incidental  result  which  followed  the  building  of  the 
meeting-house  was  a  more  decent  respect  for  the  burial-ground; 
so  that  a  vote  was  passed  that  it  "  shall  no  longer  be  improved  for 
a  pasture."  A  neat  white  fence  was  built  along  the  Park-place 
front ;  and  a  curiously  generous  price  was  paid  for  a  similar  enclos- 
ure on  North  Street.  In  1792,  a  committee  appointed  "to  see  if 
Dr.  T.  Childs  might  safely  be  permitted  to  build  a  medicine-store  " 
on  the  west  side  of  the  meeting-house,  reported  that  he  might  do 
so;  and,  upon  their  recommendation,  the  town  granted  to  that 
gentleman,  "  a  loan  of  the  land  "  where  P.  Allen's  bookstore  now 
stands,  to  run  as  long  as  it  should  be  used  as  a  medicine-store, 
on  condition  that  no  family  should  ever  live  in  it,  and  that  the 
lessee  should  build,  and  keep  in  repair,  a  fence  from  the  store  to  • 
the  corner  of  Park  Place,  similar  to  that  with  which  it  there 
connected. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  erection  of  the  meeting-house,  andt 
the  other  buildings  connected  with  it,  in  a  few  years  created  a 
marked  alteration  in  the  appearance  of  the  centre  of  the  village. 

The  meeting-house  then  built,  having  been  injured  by  fire  in 
1855,  was  removed  to  the  grounds  of  the  Maplewood  Young 
Ladies'  Institute,  and,  having  been  slightly  remodelled  to  adapt  it 
to  that  purpose,  is  now  the  spacious  and  handsome  gymnasium  of 
that  institution ;  the  only  material  alteration  in  its  exterior  being 
the  substitution  of  an  observatory  for  the  belfry. 

The  town-house  long  continued  to  serve  for  public  meetings, 
and  the  multifarious  purposes  to  which  such  a  hall  is  put  in  New- 
England  villages. 

In  the  school-rooms  on  the  lower  floor,  troops  of  Pittsfield  chil- 
dren obtained  the  greater  part  of  their  education  ;  and  many  now 


448  HISTOEY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

living  in  the  town,  with  many  more  scattered  far  and  wide*  look 
back  with  pleasure  to  the  days  when  their  favorite  sport  of  a  sum- 
mer evening  was  hurling  pebbles  at  the  swallows  that  swept  and 
circled  around  the  cupola  and  chimneys  of  the  old  academy. 

In  1832,  this  building  gave  place  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  and, 
having  been  entirely  remodelled  and  renovated,  is  now  a  handsome 

residence  on  East  Street. 

• 

NOTE. 

JOHN  CHANDLER  WILLIAMS  was  born  at  Roxbury  in  1755.  His  father  having 
been  reduced  in  fortune,  he  repaired  to  Berkshire,  then  the  land  of  promise  for  the 
ambitious  poor,  and,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  held  the  office  of  deputy-sheriff,  probably 
through  the  influence  of  his  distant  relative,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Plea?. 
When  he  first  entered  Pittsfield,  a  handkerchief  held  all  his  worldly  possessions.1  His 
term  of  office  was  brief;  for,  in  1774,  he  entered  Harvard  College,  where  he  was  sup- 
ported by  his  own  exertions,  aided  by  his  mother's  family,  the  Chandlers  of  Worcester, 
and  graduated  in  1778.  He,  with  many  of  his  college-mates,  was  at  the  Battle  of  Lex- 
ington. On  the  30th  of  April,  the  Provincial  Committee  of  Safety  summoned  him  to 
attend  them,  to  be  employed  as  an  express.  On  the  23d  of  May,  they  furnished  him 
with  an  order  for  horses  and  other  necessaries  "  for  his  journey,  he  being  in  the  coun- 
try's service."  On  the  27th  of  June,  his  account  of  ,£4.  4s.  6cZ.,  as  "  a  rider  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Colony,"  was  allowed.  The  mission  thus  obscurely  alluded  to  was,  in  part 
ai  least,  the  successful  search  for  Gov.  Hutchinson's  letter-book,  and  other  records  of 
public  moment,  which  were  found  in  his  country-seat  at  Milton  Hills.* 

It  curiously  happened  that  Chandler  afterwards  married  the  daughter  of  Col.  Israel 
Williams,  Hutchinson's  Tory  friend  and  correspondent,  who  was  involved  in  serious 
trouble  by  the  discoveries  at  Milton  Hills. 

Mr.  Williams,  after  graduating  at  Harvard,  studied  law  with  Hon.  John  Worthington 
of  Springfield,  and  commenced  practice  at  Pittsfield  in  1782.  "  As  a  lawyer,"  says 
Rev.  Dr.  George  T.  Chapman,  "  his  standing  was  more  than  respectable.  His  mind 
was  richly  stored  with  legal  knowledge;  and  of  that  knowledge  he  availed  himself  with 
the  noble  determination  to  be  useful  rather  than  splendid.  ...  He  acquired  the  esteem 
of  the  court,  the  bar,  and  the  jury:  he  so  ingratiated  himself  in  the  confidence  of  the 
community  around  him  by  the  integrity  of  his  conduct  as  to  be  proverbially  eulogized 
as  '  the  honest  lawyer.'  " 

He  did  not,  however,  confine  himself  to  the  practice  of  the  law.  but  opened  a  store, 
which  he  conducted  successfully,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Park,  where,  soon  after  his 
removal  to  Pittsfield,  he  purchased  the  property  which  now  lies  on  each  side  of  Williams 
Avenue,  and  extends  west  to  South  Street,  upon  which  the  gambrel-roof  mansion,  now 
known  as  the  Newton  House,  had  then  been  just  built. 

His  wife,  Mrs.  Lucretia,  the  preserver  of  the  elm,  was,  as  has  been  stated,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Col.  Israel  Williams,  who  commanded  the  Hampshire  militia  in  the  last  French 
and  Indian  War,  and  was  one  of  the  most  noted  loyalists  of  the  Revolution.  Madam 
Lucretia  inherited  the  Williams  blood  in  all  its  pride  and  vigor.  "  She  was,"  says  the 
historian  of  the  family,  "  a  woman  of  uncommon  spirit  and  most  uncommon  brilliancy 
of  wit  and  intellect;  always  the  centre  of  the  circle  in  which  she  moved,  and  the  point 

i  This  is  stated  in  the  "  History  of  the  Williams  Family  "  as  being  the  case  on  bis 
final  settlement  in  Berkshire,  which  is  clearly  an  error. 

*  Letter  of  Hon.  E.  A.  Newton,  in  "  History  of  Williams  Family." 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  449 

of  attraction  in  all  companies.  She  had  a  keen  perception  of  the  ridiculous;  and  the 
coxcomb,  the  frivolous,  and  the  vicious  received  their  due  reward  at  her  hands;  but 
she  was  most  kind  and  tender  to  the  deserving."  The  most  devoted  of  daughters,  in 
the  trouble  which  her  father's  political  course  brought  upon  him  she  was  his  chief 
solace  and  sustainer;  and,  when  he  was  confined  in  Northampton  jail  as  an  enemy  of 
his  country,  she,  although  but  a  girl  of  seventeen  years,  carried  him  his  food  daily 
from  their  home  in  Hatfield;  submitting,  for  the  sake  of  this  sacred  duty,  to  curb  even 
her  proud  spirit  under  the  annoyances  and  indignities  inflicted  by  coarse  and  suspi- 
cious jailors.  Naturally,  her  affections  were  not  conciliated  to  the  Whig  party  by  this 
treatment;  and,  while  she  lived,  she  considered  herself  a  subject  of  the  English  Crown, 
and  invariably  spoke  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  as  "  the  Rebellion." 

Some  notable  displays  of  the  Williams  spirit  are  related  of  her  in  Pittsfield.  The 
house  which  Mr.  Williams  purchased  on  his  removal  to  that  town  was  originally  sur- 
rounded by  a  fine  growth  of  buttonwoods,  then  a  favorite  shade-tree.  But  the  husband 
and  wife  agreed  in  preferring  the  more  stately  and  graceful  elm;  and  it  was  agreed, 
that,  at  some  time,  the  buttonwoods  must  give  place  to  their  betters;  but  dread  of 
the  naked  aspect  which  the  place  must  for  a  while  bear,  postponed  the  change  from 
year  to  year.  But  one  spring,  Mr.  Williams  set  off  for  Boston  to  attend  to  his  duties  as 
a  legislator;  and,  on  his  return,  his  wife  triumphantly  pointed  him  to  a  lawn  as 
bare  of  forestry  as  his  smoothest  meadow.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  introduce 
the  long-desired  elms.  And  to  this  incident,  together  with  the  skill  used  in  selecting 
from  the  widely  differing  varieties  of  the  elm,  is  due  the  noble  colonnade  of  trees  which 
now  shade  the  new  Court  Square. 

The  other  anecdote  is  no  less  characteristic  of  the  times,  and  of  the  parties  con- 
nected with  it.  It  seems  that  a  notorious  demagogue  had  incurred  the  wrath  of 
Thomas  Allen,  jun.,  by  circulating  some  slander  against  his  father;  whereupon  the 
younger  Thomas,  in  accordance  with  a  custom  now  passed  away,  lashed  the  offender 
across  The  Park  and  down  East  Street.  Now,  it  happened  that  the  houses  of  Chandler 
Williams  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  stood  opposite  each  other  at  the  head  of  that  street; 
and,  as  the  whipped  and  the  whipper  passed  between,  Madam  Williams  appeared  at 
her  gate,  and,  handing  out  a  new  whip,  cheered  on  the  excoriation  with,  "  That's  right, 
Tom !  Give  it  to  him  well !  Lay  it  on  to  the  rascal  I  " 

While,  across  the  way,  the  venerable  pastor  stretched  out  his  hands,  crying, 
"  Thomas,  my  son,  forbear;  forbear,  Thomas,  my  son." 

And  Thomas,  more  gallant  than  dutiful,  obeyed  the  lady. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  lie  buried  in  the  lot  of  their  son-in-law,  the  late  Hon.  E.  A. 
Newton,  in  the  Pittsfield  cemetery. 


29 


CHAPTER  XXY. 

STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  EQUALITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 
[1772-1811.] 

State  of  the  Law.  —  Appropriations  for  the  New  Meeting-House  resisted.  —  Bap- 
tists, Shakers,  Episcopalians,  and  Methodists.  —  Protest  of  the  Dissenters.  — 
List  of  Dissenters  in  1789.  —  Inquisition  into  Religious  Faith.  —  Henry  Van 
Schaack  appeals  to  the  Courts.  —  The  Decision.  —  State  Laws  for  the  Support 
of  Eeligious  Worship  remodelled.  —  Pittsfield  Parishes. 


means  of  defraying  the  cost  of  the  new  meeting-house 
_L  were  not  raised  without  creating  the  usual  village  dissen- 
sions ;  and,  as  usual,  these  divisions  formed  a  part  of  the  struggle 
to  make  practical  that  equality  before  the  law,  which,  although 
theoretically  proclaimed  by  the  Declaration  of  Rights,  was  still,  in 
practice,  denied,  especially  by  the  prevalent  construction  of  the 
article  in  that  instrument  concerning  the  support  of  the  institu- 
tions of  religion. 

In  accordance  with  the  new  fundamental  law,  as  well  as  with  the 
ancient  colonial  statutes,  towns  in  Massachusetts  were  constituted 
religious  parishes,  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  public  worship, 
and  were  required  to  compel  the  attendance  upon  it  of  such  of 
their  inhabitants  as  could  conscientiously  unite  in  the  established 
exercises. 

Against  the  incorporation  of  this  portion  of  the  colonial  system 
into  the  institutions  of  the  new  Common  wealth,  there  had  been  an 
earnest  but  unavailing  protest.  Two  classes  of  men  had,  in  the 
Revolution,  combined  on  the  patriotic  side,  —  those  who  would 
resist  every  encroachment,  from  whatever  quarter,  upon  civil  liberty 
or  the  natural  rights  of  the  individual,  and  those  who  simply  desired 
to  protect  the  ancient  status  of  the  Congregational  and  republi- 
can Colony  against  the  attacks  of  Episcopal  and  imperial  Brit- 

450 


HISTORY  OF   PITTSFIELD.  451 

am.  It  was  inevitable,  therefore,  that,  the  contest  with  the 
mother  country  being  over,  a  new  division  of  opinions  should  arise 
upon  matters  in  which  the  spirit  and  practice  inherited  from  colonial 
times  seemed  oppugnant  to  the  liberty  of  the  citizen.  And  thus 
a  new  struggle  commenced,  influenced  more  or  less  on  both  sides 
by  selfish  interests  and  personal  prejudices,  but  nevertheless  with 
a  foundation  of  principle  at  bottom. 

Two  points  of  difference  appeared,  even  before  the  colonists  had 
any  other  assurance  of  success  than  the  confidence  which  true  men 
have  in  a  just  cause  and  in  themselves,  —  protest  being  made 
against  African  slavery,  and  the  compulsory  support  of  public 
worship ;  the  Baptists  and  Friends  leading  in  the  opposition  to 
the  latter. 

The  members  of  these  denominations  carried  their  efforts  to 
effect  a  change  into  the  constitutional  convention  of  1779,  and  there 
made  a  vigorous  effort  to  do  away  with  the  whole  system  of  State 
interference  with  religious  matters,  but  in  vain.  Indeed,  John 
Adams,  as  early  as  1774,  in  an  interview  concerning  this  matter  at 
Philadelphia  with  certain  Pennsylvania  Quakers,  who  wished  to 
make  it  an  element  of  national  politics,  had  said  somewhat  petu- 
lantly, that  he  "knew  they  might  as  well  turn  the  heavenly  bodies 
out  of  their  annual  and  diurnal  course,  as  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts from  their  meeting-house  and  Sunday  laws." 

The  substance  of  the  old  statutes  was  therefore  retained  in 
the  Declaration  of  Rights,  which  empowered  the  towns  to  tax  polls 
and  estates  for  the  support  of  the  public  worship,  which  they  were 
required  to  maintain,  with  the  proviso  that  the  tax-payers  of  a  dif- 
ferent religious  denomination  from  that  held  by  a  majority  of 
the  town  might  require  their  assessments  to  be  paid  to  teachers  of 
their  own  faith,  if  there  were  any  such,  upon  whose  ministration 
they  usually  attended  when  in  health  ;  otherwise  the  payments  to 
be  mad«  to  the  religious  teacher  or  teachers  of  the  parish  in  which 
they  were  levied. 

The  right  of  control,  in  religious  as  in  other  matters,  pertained 
to  the  majority  of  voters,  whatever  their  creed,  provided  it  were- 
Protestant  and  Christian.  The  Baptists,  Friends,  and  Methodists 
were,  however,  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  this  right  on  principle, 
and  the  Episcopalians  from  policy ;  so  that  it  was  stated,  with 
probable  correctness,  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  1820,  that 
the  Congregationalists  alone  had  availed  themselves  of  it,  while  by 


452  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

many  even   of  that  denomination  it  was  looked  upon  with  dis- 
favor.1 

Thus  stood  the  law  and  public  sentiment  when  the  people  of 
Pittsfield,  in  November,  1789,  undertook  to  build  the  new  meeting- 
house. But,  in  order  to  fully  understand  their  bearing  upon  the 
subject  of  the  new  enterprise,  some  account  is  necessary  of  those 
in  Pittsfield  who  dissented  from  "  the  standing  order,"  as  the  dom- 
inant sect  was  called,  and  formed  a  considerable  body  of  Baptists, 
Shakers,  Episcopalians,  and  Methodists,  perhaps  numbering  between 
two  and  three  hundred  souls  in  all,  although  represented  by  only 
thirty  or  forty  tax-payers. 

The  Baptist  faith  was  introduced  into  Pittsfield  by  Elder  Valen- 
tine Rathbun.  The  reader  is  already  familiar  with  the  character  of 
this  gentleman  as  a  political  leader  in  Revolutionary  times,  when 
he  was  in  excellent  accord  with  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  except  when  his 
zeal  incited  him  to  even  more  radical  measures  than  those  which 
his  Congregational  brother  favored. 

O        O 

His  active  and  ardent  temperament  manifested  itself  in  religion 
as  in  politics,  rendering  him  restless  and  perhaps  unquiet  in  pursuit 
of  divine  truth,  and  subject  to  quick  sympathies,  which  sometimes 
led  'him  astray,  but  of  a  sincere  piety,  which  forbade  him  to  persist 
in  conscious  error.  He  had  received  neither  a  classical  nor  theo- 
logical education, —  which  might  perhaps  have  preserved  him  from 
the  delusion  into  which  he  fell  for  a  time,  —  hut  has  left  evidence 
that  he  was  not  entirely  unfitted  for  the  office  of  a  preacher,  either 
in  natural  gifts,  intellectual  culture,  or  general  information.  Those 
who  put  faith  in  the  indications  of  character  afforded  by  chirogra- 
phy  would  attribute  to  him  a  nervous  organization  of  extreme  re- 
finement and  delicacy. 

Shortly  after  his  removal  to  Pittsfield,  Mr.  Rathbun  began  to 
hold  meetings  in  his  own  house,  and  soon  won  to  his  faith  several 
of  his  neighbors,  who,  in  1772,  united  themselves  in  a  society  of 
Baptists,  or  Anabaptists,  —  as  they  were  more  commonly  called, 
from  the  prominence  which  their  refusal  of  infant  baptism  held  in 
the  popular  idea  of  their  creed. 

The  new  sect  flourished  for  a  while,  but  soon  met  with  a  sad  in- 

1  The  proposition  to  abolish  it  was  introduced  into  the  convention  of  1820  by 
Dr.  fi.  H.  Childs,  a  Pittsfield  Congregationalist,  who  championed  it  with  ability 
and  most  persistent  zeal,  both  in  that  body,  and,  when  it  was  lost  there,  before 
the  people,  until  it  was  finally  carried  in  1833. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  453 

terruption  to  its  prosperity.  In  1780,  Mother  Ann  Lee,  the 
Shaker  prophetess,  set  out  on  her  famous  proselyting  tour  from 
Watervliet,  N.Y.,  to  Harvard,  Mass.  On  their  way,  the  apos- 
tolic party  visited  New  Lebanon  and  Hancock,  in  which  vicin- 
ity a  most  remarkable  "  revival  of  religion "  had  prevailed  during 
the  preceding  year,  having  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1779  at 
New  Lebanon,  —  then  a  part  of  the  township  of  Canaan,  —  under 
the  auspices  of  four  women,  exceedingly  "  gifted  in  prayer,"  who 
sent  out  their  sweet  influences  from  private  houses,  but  most 
powerfully  from  "Darrow's  barn,"  which  stood  where  the  Shaker 
Village  at  New  Lebanon  now  does.  These  women,  and  other 
persons,  chiefly  Baptists,  embraced  the  Shaker  faith ;  so  that 
when  "  Mother  Ann,  and  the  elders  with  her, "  in  1780,  appeared 
upon  the  field  so  ripe  for  their  reaping,  the  excitement  was  un- 
bounded ;  and  thousands  flocked  together  from  the  neighboring 
towns  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts  to  listen  to  her  novel  and 
marvellous  doctrines. 

It  was  not  strange  that  a  man  like  Mr.  Rathbun  should  be  car- 
ried away  by  the  contagious  enthusiasm  of  the  hour,  or  that  he 
should  be  fascinated  by  the  new  doctrines,  among  which  the  neces- 
sity of  "  personal  purity  "  and  "  the  mortification  of  the  flesh  "  were 
prominently  taught.  It  is  not  unlikely,  also,  that  his  sensitive 
and  nervous  mental  system,  which  had  been  for  years  held  at  its 
extreme  tension  by  his  active  duties  in  regard  to  the  cruel  contest 
with  Great  Britain,  may  have  been  ready  to  re-act  to  the  other  ex- 
treme of  holding  all  war  to  be  sinful.  But,  if  the  conversion  of 
Mr.  Rathbun  to  the  Shaker  faith  is  not  unaccountable,  it  is  still 
less  strange  that  he  soon  found  the  practices  of  his  new  associates 
unsatisfactory,  and  hastened  to  renounce  his  connection  with  them, 
and  publish  a  book  opposing  their  creed,  but  more  especially  in 
denunciation  of  their  practices. 

Not  content  with  this  endeavor  to  repair  the  mischief  in  which 
he  had  been  led  to  take  part,  Mr.  Rathbun,  in  the  March  meet- 
ing of  1781,  moved  and  carried  a  resolution  appointing  a  commit- 
tee to  devise  "  some  measures  to  take  with  those  people  known  as 
Shakers,"  who,  it  seems,  in  his  opinion,  were  exceeding  the  bounds 
of  even  Baptist  toleration. 

The  committee  consisted  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  Elder  Rathbun, 
Elnathan  Phelps,  Eli  Root,  and  Woodbridge  Little ;  and,  at  the 
adjourned  meeting  in  April,  the  following  report,  signed  by  Rev. 


454  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Mr.   Allen   "per  order  of  the   committee,"  was    submitted   and 
adopted :  — 

"  The  committee  appointed  on  Mr.  Rathbun's  motion,  respecting  those 
people  in  town  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Shakers,  beg  leave  to 
report,  — 

"  That  they  have  attended  to  the  object  of  their  commission,  so  far  as  they 
imagined  in  duty  and  prudence  they  ought,  and  that  they  have  reason  to 
apprehend  that  those  people  called  Shakers  are,  in  many  instances,  irregular 
and  disorderly  in  their  conduct  and  conversation,  if  not  guilty  of  some  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors.  The  committee  therefore  recommend  it  to  the 
town  to  direct  their  selectmen  to  take  such  cognizance  of  all  disorderly  and 
idle  persons  in  the  town,  and  of  their  families,  as  in  prudence  and  by  law 
they  may  and  ought ;  and,  further,  that  the  town  give  particular  instructions 
to  their  respective  grand  jurors  to  be  chosen  for  the  next  courts  to  inquire 
into  all  the  conduct  and  practices  of  said,  people  which  are  contrary  to  law, 
and  make  due  presentment  thereof,  particularly  all  blasphemies,  adulteries, 
fornications,  breaches  of  sabbath,  and  all  other  breaches  of  law,  which  they 
may  have  been  guilty  of;  and  that  all  tithing-men  and  other  persons  use 
their  best  endeavors,  according  to  law,  to  suppress  all  disorders  and  breaches 
of  the  peace  of  every  kind  ;  and  also  that  the  town  direct  their  town-clerk 
to  inform  the  commissioners,  or  other  proper  authority  in  the  county  of  Albany, 
that  great  and  manifest  inconveniences  and  dangers  arise  from  the  corre- 
spondence and  intercourse  subsisting  between  the  people  of  Niskeuna 
[ Water vliet]  called  Shakers  and  some  people  of  this  town  and  county 
disposed  to  embrace  their  erroneous  opinions,  and  that  they  be  requested  to 
co-operate  with  us  in  endeavoring  to  prevent  such  intercourse  and  corre- 
spondence by  all  possible  ways  and  means. 

"  THOMAS  ALLEN, 
"PITTSFIELD,  April  2, 1781."  "  per  order  of  the  Committee. 

Mr.  Rathbun  did  not  succeed  in  leading  back  to  the  Baptist 
fold  all  who,  with  him,  had  wandered  from  it ;  some  even  of  his 
own  kinsmen  adhering  firmly  to  the  Shaker  faith :  but  he  recovered, 
in  a  great  degree,  the  confidence  of  community  and  of  his  co-re- 
ligionists. He  resumed  his  pastorate ;  and  the  church  which,  after 
his  return  to  it,  continued  for  seventeen  years  under  the  charge 
of  its  founder,  was  not  unprosperous  for  the  greater  portion  of 
that  time,  although  doubtless  weakened  by  the  unfortunate  lapse 
of  1780.  In  1781,  the  Shaftsbury  Association,  comprising  the 
Baptist  churches  within  a  wide  circuit  around  that  place,  was 
formed ;  and  in  its  ranks  Mr.  Rathbun's  flock  held  at  least  a  respect-  • 
able  position,  reporting,  in  1786,  twenty-four  members,  of  whom 
seven  had  been  admitted  during  the  year. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  455 

In  1790,  as  has  been  stated,  the  committee  of  the  town,  who 
manifestly  were  not  inclined  to  enlarge  the  Baptist  borders,  re- 
ported twenty-one  tax-payers  indisputably  connected  with  the 
society  (besides  Mr.  Rathbun  himself,  who  was  exempted  from 
taxation  as  a  public  teacher  of  religion),  and  several  others  whose 
claims  to  membership  were  disputed.  This  would  indicate  a  still 
more  numerous  communion  than  in  1786 ;  but  in  1798,  whether 
from  the  revival  of  old  difficulties,  or  the  engendering  of  new,  the 
church  had  become  so  much  reduced,  that  Elder  Rathbun,  with  one 
of  his  deacons,  appeared  before  the  association,  and  requested  that 
its  name  might  be  dropped  from  the  rolls. 

Mr.  Rathbuu  immediately  left  Pittsfield,  and  settled  at  Scipio, 
N.Y.  Whether  his  removal  was  the  cause  or  effect  of  the  decay 
of  his  church  does  not  appear  j  but  he  maintained  his  reputation 
as  a  sincere  Christian  in  his  new  home,  and  from  him  are  descended 
some  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Western  New-York, 
as  well  as  of  Pittsfield  and  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  church  was  re-organized  in  1800,  under  the  eldership  of 
Rev.  John  Francis,  who  had  been  one  of  the  early  members  of  Mr. 
Rathbun's  flock. 

The  manner  in  which  Shakerism  was  introduced  into  this 
vicinity  has  been  incidentally  related  above.  The  Pittsfield 
converts,  or  a  portion  of  them,  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  family 
which  established  itself  near  the  clothier-works  of  Mr.  Rathbun, 
on  the  site  still  occupied  by  their  successors.  In  their  first  days, 
they  were  charged  with  gross  immoralities,  or,  as  the  more  char- 
itably inclined  framed  their  indictment,  indecencies.  If  there 
was  any  ground  for  these  allegations  in  their  conduct  under  the 
first  excitement  of  an  ill-regulated  zeal,  it  was  soon  reformed ; 
and,  in  1790,  the  Shakers  were  recognized  as  upon  an  equal  footing 
with  other  dissenting  religious  bodies,  so  far  as  regarded  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes  for  the  support  of  public  worship ;  and,  by  their 
industry  and  scrupulous  morality,  they  have  since  won  a  high  place 
in  the  esteem  of  their  neighbors,  although  the  Commonwealth  has 
steadily  refused  to  incorporate  them. 

The  Methodist-Episcopal  Church  first  obtained  adherents  in" 
Pittsfield  in  1788,  through  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Lemuel 
Smith  and  Thomas  Everett,  who  were  then  travelling  the  Stock- 
bridge  Circuit,  and  formed  a  class  in  the  East  Part. 

Another  was  formed  in  the  West  Part  by  Mr.  Smith,  who  preached 


456  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

his  first  sermon  in  1791  at  the  house  of  Col.  Oliver  Root.  With 
true  Methodist  zeal,  these  gentlemen  held  meetings  in  school- 
houses,  private  dwellings,  barns,  in  the  groves  and  the  open  fields, 
wherever  two  or  three  could  be  gathered  to  listen  to  their  fervid 
words ;  and  not  without  fruit. 

Methodism  was  formally  established  in  Pittsfield  in  1792,  by 
Rev.  Robert  Green,  who,  on  his  way  to  New  Lebanon,  was 
detained  by  a  storm  at  the  house  of  Capt.  Joel  Stevens,  on  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Taconic  Mountains,  and  there  made  excel- 
lent use  of  his  time  in  preaching,  and  organizing  the  Pittsfield 
Circuit. 

The  first  local  preacher  was  the  eccentric  and  eloquent  Lorenzo 
Dow  ;  and,  under  a  succession  of  faithful  pastors,  the  denomination 
flourished  throughout  that  century,  as  it  has  continued  to  do  in 
this.  In  1798,  the  Methodists  built  a  meeting-house  forty-two  and 
a  half  feet  long  by  thirty  four  and  a  half  feet  wide  on  the  main 
street,  west  of  Lake  Onota, —  the  old  black  meeting-house  of  later 
years,  dilapidated,  but  hallowed  in  many  hearts  by  the  memory 
of  fervent  prayer,  and  exhortation  to  repentance.  Deacon  Josiah 
Wright,  one  of  the  Revolutionary  patriots  most  trusted  for  his 
hearty  zeal  tempered  with  sound  discretion  and  practical  judgment, 
was  a  leading  member  of  the  denomination ;  and  his  associates 
were  distinguished  for  exemplary  Christian  deportment  and  warm 
devotion. 

The  Episcopalians  were  few  in  number,  and  had  been  loyalists 
of  the  Revolution;  and  perhaps  sympathy  with  England  insensibly 
inclined  them  to  her  church.  But  Mr.  Van  Schaack,  educated  in 
the  Dutch  Reformed  creed,  early  became  an  Episcopalian,  after 
much  study  and  reflection.  Four  of  the  six  tax-payers  reported 
among  them  in  1790  were  men  of  substance ;  while  Henry  Van 
Schaack,  their  chief,  with  the  position  and  character  ascribed  to 
him  in  a  former  chapter,  was  well  qualified  to  lead  the  dis- 
senters of  Pittsfield  in  their  resistance  to  the  assessment  made 
upon  them  for  the  erection  of  the  meeting-house  of  1790.  And 
upon  him,  indeed,  fell  the  whole  brunt  of  the  battle,  although 
he  was  supported,  so  far  as  their  support  was  of  avail,  by  all 
the  Baptists  and  Episcopalians.  The  Methodists  were  not  yet  as 
sufficiently  organized  to  take  part  in  the  legal  contest ;  and  the 
Shakers  probably  declined  to  appeal  to  the  tribunals  of  the  world's 
people. 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD.  457 

The  vote  to  build  the  meeting-house,  the  reader  will  remember, 
was  passed  in  November,  1789 ;  the  first  assessment  of  taxes  to 
defray  the  expense  (£500)  was  voted  in  March,  1790 ;  and  £250 
additional  followed  in  August  of  the  same  year. 

The  first  recorded  opposition  by  the  dissenters  was  made  at  the 
last-named  meeting,  when  the  following  spirited  protest  was 
entered,  but  secured  no  notice  from  the  meeting,  further  than 
a  vote  that  the  taxes  for  the  building  of  the  meeting-house 
should  be  assessed  separately  from  those  for  ordinary  town-pur- 
poses :  — 

"  We,  the  underwritten  persons,  beg  leave  to  state  to  the  town  that  the 
Presbyterians,  being  the  most  numerous  sect  of  Christians  in  the  town  of 
Pittsfield,  have  of  late  obtained  several  votes  in  town-meetings  for  building  a 
place  of  religious  worship,  and  have,  in  some  of  those  meetings,  made 
various  appropriations  of  town-property  for  erecting  the  same.  And  as  the 
subscribers  to  this  paper  are  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  town  afore- 
said, differing  in  religious  sentiments  with  those  for  whose  use  the  said  place 
of  worship  is  building,  they  do  in  this  public  manner  disclaim  any  right  or 
pretension  to  the  same,  under  the  idea  that  it  cannot,  in  any  construction,  be 
considered  as  a  town-building,  but  merely  for  accommodating  a  particular 
denomination  of  Christians ;  and  that  as  we,  in  our  several  stations,  contrib- 
ute a  share  of  our  property  voluntarily  to  the  support  of  the  gospel,  accord- 
ing to  our  religious  professions,  we  do  claim  it  as  our  right  to  be  exempted 
from  any  assessments,  or  other  burthens,  that  have  been,  or  which  may  be, 
imposed  by  any  town  vote,  or  otherwise,  for  building  the  place  of  worship 
aforesaid,  or  any  other  in  the  same  predicament. 

"  Furthermore  we  do,  in  justice  to  ourselves  and  the  Christian  denominations 
we  belong  to,  protest  against  any  town-vote  that  now  does,  or  which  hereafter 
may,  operate  so  as  to  assess  or  burthen  one  religious  sect  of  Christians  for 
building  places  of  religious  worship  for  another,  or  that  any  part  of  the 
town-property  shall  be  applied  for  purposes  but  what  are  actually  for  town- 
uses.  Contrary  doctrines,  it  is  conceived  by  the  undersigned,  tend  to  subor- 
dinate one  sect  or  denomination  of  Christians  to  another,  in  direct  violation 
of  the  Constitution  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  contrary  to  the  practice  of 
Christians  in  general,  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  Dated  and  signed   in  Pittsfield,  at  a  town-meeting  held  the  of 

August,  1 790. 

JOHN  BRANCH.  VALENTIN^;  RATHBUN. 

ANDREW  LANGWORTHY.         JOHN  BAKER. 
JOHN  JEFFERDS.  ASA  BRANCH. 

DYER  FITCH.  SAXTON  RATHBUN. 

H.  VAN  SCHAACK.  STEPHEN  JEWETT. 


458  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Protests  and  appeals  having  proved  of  no  avail,  occasion  was 
found  by  the  next  town-meeting  to  promise  indemnity  to  the  asses- 
sors for  the  costs  and  damages  which  Henry  Van  Schaack  might 
recover  in  the  suit  which  he  had  commenced  against  them.  John 
C.  Williams  and  Dr.  Timothy  Childs  were  also  appointed  to  aid 
the  assessors  with  council  and  advice. 

In  December,  1791,  and  again  in  March,  1792,  Mr.  Van  Schaack 
sent  communications  to  the  selectmen,  stating,  that,  in  the  arrange- 
ments for  "seating"  the  new  meeting-house,  a  part  of  a  pew  had 
been  assigned  him,  with  the  evident  intention  of  giving  counte- 
nance to  the  idea  that  he  was  to  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
"  Congregational  persuasion,"  and  therefore  liable  to  the  collec- 
tion of  the  oppressive  taxes  levied  to  build  an  expensive  house  of 
worship,  beneficial  only  to  the  Congregational  Society,  and  dedi- 
cated to  God  on  principles  of  religion  different  from  those  which 
he  professed.  He  therefore  disclaimed  in  December  all  right  and 
interest  in  the  building,  and  reiterated  his  disclaimer  in  March, 
under  seal  and  attested  by  witnesses.  He  states,  in  those  papers, 
that  he  supports  his  own  mode  of  worship  in  a  neighboring  town, 
Lenox,1  and  therefore  considers  that  "  to  compel  him  to  maintain 
that  of  another  denomination  bears  an  aspect  too  unfriendly  to 
the  sacred  rights  of  conscience  secured  him  by  the  Constitution, 
and  therefore  is  an  imposition  not  to  be  submitted  to."  He  denies 
that  the  meeting-house  was  built  in  accordance  with  a  town-vote, 
and  asserts  that  the  action  regarding  it  was  that  of  the  Congrega- 
tionlists  alone. 

In  the  December  communication,  Mr.  Van  Schaack  demanded 
that  it  should  be  made  part  of  the  business  of  the  next  town- 
meeting,  — 

"  First,  That  those  who  are  not  of  the  Congregational  persuasion  may  have 
an  opportunity  publicly  to  give  their  reasons  for  disclaiming  any  right  to 
seats  in  the  new  meeting-house ;  and  that  those  objections  might  be  lodged 
in  the  town-records. 

"  Second,  That  the  town  would  call  upon  the  committee  appointed  nearly 
two  years  ago  to  sell  the  school-lands,  for  a  report  of  how  this  property  has 
been  disposed  of,  and  how  the  avails  have  been  appropriated." 

1  "  The  Episcopal  Religious  Society  of  Lenox,  Pittsfield,  Lee,  and  Stockbridge  " 
was  incorporated  in  1805,  Henry  Van  Schaack  and  Tertullas  Hubby  of  Pitts- 
field  being  corporate  members ;  but  religious  service  in  the  Episcopal  form  had 
been  previously  held  in  Lenox. 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD.  459 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Van  Schaack's  persistence,  and  of  his  appeal 
to  the  court,  began  now  to  manifest  itself;  and  the  town,  March, 
1792,  appointed  a  committee  to  ascertain  the  names  of  those 
persons  who  had  really  been  dissenters  on  the  1st  of  November, 
1789,  —  when  the  building  of  the  meeting-house  was  undertaken, 
—  and  still  continued  to  be  so. 

The  limitation  as  to  time  was  due  to  the  fact,  that  the  religious 
opinions  of  some  persons  began  to  be  seriously  affected  by  the 
expectation  that  dissent  from  Congregationalism  would  exempt 
them  from  the  meeting-house  tax. 

The  committee  selected  for  this  delicate  inquisition  into  the 
religious  faith  of  the  tax-paying  community  was  John  C.  Williams, 
"VYoodbridge  Little,  Daniel  Hubbard,  Timothy  Childs,  Thomas 
Gold,  John  Baker.  They  reported  in  April  the  following  list; 
which  was  accepted  by  the  town,  with  the  exception  of  the 
name  of  Stephen  Jewett,  who,  in  spite  of  his  professed  submis- 
sion to  Episcopal  rule,  was  solemnly  adjudged  an  Independent 
Congregationalist,  —  orthodox  enough,  at  least,  for  taxation  pur- 
poses. 

DISSENTERS  FROM  CONGREGATIONALISM  LIABLE  TO  TAXATION  AS  RESI- 
DENTS IN  PITTSFIELD,  Nov.  1,  1 789  :  — 

Episcopalians.  —  Jonathan  Hubby,  James  Heard,  Henry  Van  Schaack, 
Esq.,  Eleazer  Russell,  Titus  Grant,  Stephen  Jewett. 

Shakers.  —  John  Dem  ing,  Ephraim  Welch,  Josiali  Talcott,  Rufus  Coggswell, 
Dr.  Shadrach  Hulbert,  Joshua  Birch,  Daniel  Goodrich,  Hezekiah  Osborn, 
Samuel  Phelps.  « 

Baptists.  —  John  Baker,  Solomon  Deming,  Saxton  Rathbun,  Benjamin 
Rathbun,  Noadiah  Denting,  Ezekiel  Crandall,  John  Francis,  Josiah  Francis, 
James  Rathbun,  Charles  Lamb,  John  Branch,  Asa  Branch,  David  Ash- 
ley, John  Jefferds,  Andrew  Langworthy,  Williard  Langworthy,  Moses 
Merwin,  Hubbard  Goodrich,  Jonathan  Chadfield,  John  Remington,  John 
Bryant. 

Other  tax-payers  claiming  that  their  dissent  from  Congregation- 
alism had  been  unjustly  disallowed,  it  was  voted,  at  a  subsequent 
meeting,  to  re-open  the  lists.  What  the  result  was  is  not  recorded ; 
but  we  may  gather  the  character  of  the  inquisition  into  the  faith 
of  individuals  from  the  following  paper  filed  in  the  town-archives, 
as  — 


460  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

Names  of  Persons  who  wish  to  be  exempted  from  paying  a  Minister's  Tax. 

Robert  Francis,  —  pleads  conveniency. 

John  Francis,  — 

Charles  Lamb,  —  a  Churchman. 

Dyer  Fitch,  —  rather  a  Baptist  in  sentiment. 

Uriah  Betts,  — r  a  Baptist  in  sentiment,  but  can  attend  other  meetings 
without  injuring  his  conscience. 

Walter  Welch,  —  a  Baptist  by  education,  &c. 

Augustus  Crandall,  —  a  Seventh-day  Baptist,  but  now  attends  Mr.  Rath- 
bun's  ;  never  attended  any  other  meeting. 

Moses  Wood,  —  a  Baptist  by  profession. 

Seth  Janes,  —  a  Baptist,  as  much  as  any  thing,  and  now  supports  Mr. 
Rathbun  on  Sundays. 

John  Weed,  —  a  Baptist  in  sentiment ;  ditto. 

Daniel  Rust,  —  profits  most  by  hearing  Mr.  Rathbun ;  chooses  to  attend 
there  from  principle. 

Abijah  Wright,  —  a  constant  attendant  on  Mr.  Rathbun. 

Timothy  Hurlbert,  —  an  attendant  on  Mr.  Rathbuu. 

David  Ashley,  —  thinks  it  not  right  to  support  Mr.  Allen  by  a  tax. 

David  Ashley,  jun.,  —  an  attendant  on  Mr.  Rathbuu's  meeting  from  a 
child,  and  chooses  to  attend  there  still. 

John  Phelps,  —  thinks  the  Baptists  to  be  most  right. 

Abiather  Millard,  —  brought  up  a  Baptist,  and  thinks  it  not  right  to  sup- 
port a  minister  by  a  tax. 

Caleb  Wadhams, — cannot  attend  on  Mr.  Allen,  because  he  thinks  it  not 
right  to  support  a  minister  by  a  tax. 

Seth  Dickinson,  —  can't  pay  his  debts. 

I  do  truly  and  absolutely  believe  in  the  Baptist  persuasion.  May  this  be 
recorded.  —  Seth  Janes. 

Nathan  Davis,  —  a  Baptist  in  principle. 

Israel  Miner,  —  never  heard  Mr.  Allen,  and  can  teach  Mr.  Allen,  and 
thinks  he  ought  not  to  pay  his  rates  to  him,  and  is  a  Shaker  as  much  as 
any  'thing. 

The  March  meeting,  besides  taking  measures  to  ascertain  the 
names  of  those  "  who  were  of  a  different  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians from  that  which  is  most  prevalent  in  this  town,"  had  appointed 
a  committee  to  consider  whether  the  taxes  of  such  persons  should 
be  abated  in  whole  or  in  part. 

The  committee  were  Daniel  Hubbard,  Woodbridge  Little,  David 
Bush,  John  C.  Williams,  and  Timothy  Childs.  Their  report  was 
in  marked  advance  of  previous  action. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  461 

They  acknowledged  that  it  would  be  unreasonable  and  absurd 
for  the  town  to  dispute  the  equitable  and  constitutional  rights  and 
immunities  of  the  dissenters;  but  that  it  ought,  on  the  contrary, 
publicly  to  disclaim  all  wish  or  idea  of  compelling  the  payment  of 
the  tax  assessed  upon  them  towards  building  the  meeting-house  or 
the  support  of  a  public  teacher  in  the  town,  to  any  use  contrary  to 
that  which  they  had  a  right  to  request. 

The  committee,  however,  were  quite  as  clearly  of  opinion,  that 
it  would  be  unsafe  for  the  town,  and  repugnant  to  the  undoubted 
intent  of  the  Constitution,  to  abate  the  taxes  of  dissenters,  and, 
indeed,  that  it  had  no  right  to  do  so ;  yet  as,  on  account  of  some 
expectation  of  that  kind,  there  had  been  delay  in  the  collection  of 
taxes,  and  as  there  "  appeared  to  be  a  happy  spirit  of  conciliation 
and  a  general  disposition  to  peace,  unity,  and  friendship  prevail- 
ing," and  a  manifest  unwillingness  to  take  any  undue  advantage 
of  the  neglect  or  laches  which  had  arisen,  the  committee  advised 
"that  the  collection  of  taxes  of  dissenters  should  be  suspended 
for  three  weeks,  in  order  that  they  might  have  an  opportunity 
to  lodge  with  the  treasurer  a  written  request  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  sums  assessed  upon  them  to  the  support  of  their 
respective  teachers  or  elders ;  and  if,  previous  to  the  collection  of 
said  taxes,  any  of  the  dissenters  should  produce  to  the  treasurer 
an  order,  receipt,  or  discharge  from  such  teachers,  then  the  treasurer 
should  give  his  orders  to  the  collectors  in  accordance  therewith; 
but,  if  no  requisition  for  a  different  disposal  of  the  taxes  of  any 
person  should  be  filed  within  three  months,  they  should  be  applied, 
in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution,  to  the 
support  of  the  public  worship  of  the  standing  order. 

The  committee  did  not  touch  upon  the  appropriation  of  the 
common  property  of  the  town,  including  that  dedicated  by  law  to 
the  support  of  schools,  for  the  benefit  of  a  society  composed  of  a 
portion  of  its  citizens  only.  Its  object  seems  to  have  been  to  lay 
the  taxes  for  religious  purposes  equally  upon  all  persons ;  but,  while 
those  of  the  Congregationalists  were  divided  between  the  building 
of  the  meeting-house  and  the  support  of  the  minister,  those  of  the 
other  denominations  were  all  to  be  paid  to  their  respective  minis- 
ters for  their  support :  so  that  an  inducement  might  not  be  held 
out  to  any  to  attach  themselves  to  the  denomination  which  sup- 
ported its  establishment  in  the  cheapest  manner;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  religious  societies  might  not  be  tempted,  by  the  hope  of 


462  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

securing  this  class  of  converts,  to  employ  cheap  and  consequently 
ignorant  preachers.  It  is  probable  that  this  was  among  the  motives 
of  the  town  from  the  first  in  its  attempt  to  assess  the  meeting- 
house tax  upon  dissenters. 

The  difficulty  was  one  inseparable  from  the  interference  of  the 
State  in  religious  matters,  which  in  many  respects  operated  to  the 
injury  of  the  apparently  favored  sect  as  well  as  of  others. 

The  disposition  of  the  matter  recommended  by  the  report  to 
the  April  meeting  was  probably  as  fair  as  any  thing  which  could 
have  been  devised,  so  far  as  taxation  was  concerned.1  But  the 
committee  proposed  no  removal  of  one  main  cause  of  complaint; 
and  for  this,  as  well  as  perhaps  for  other  reasons,  it  was  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  dissenters.  Mr.  Van  Schaack  therefore  continued  his 
legal  proceedings,  being  encouraged  to  persist  by  letters  from 
Bishop  Seabury  of  Connecticut;  Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  the  New-England  diocese ;  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman,  an  eminent 
Baptist  divine  of  Boston,  Gov.  Eustis,  and  others.2  He  was  non- 
suited in  the  Common  Pleas,  —  "  laughed  out  of  Court ; "  but  he 
at  once  carried  the  issue  to  the  Supreme  Bench,  being  sustained  in 
his  determination  to  do  so  by  the  opinion  of  Bishop  Parker,  that, 
"  in  spite  of  the  horse-laugh  of  Judge  Paine,"  the  court  of  final 
resort  was  certain  to  pronounce  in  his  favor.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
town  instructed  the  collectors  not  to  "  distress  "  any  of  the  dissen- 
ters, recognized  as  such  in  the  previous  year,  for  their  meeting- 
house tax  ;  nor  for  the  minister's  previous  to  the  second  week  in 
October,  unless  they  were  about  to  leave  town. 

In  the  first  week  of  October,  the  case  was  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  in  Mr.  Van  Schaack's  favor. 

In  the  warrant  for"  the  town-meeting  of  November,  1792,  an 
article  was  inserted,  probably  at  the  instance  of  some  dissenter, 
"to  ascertain  the  sense  of  the  town,  whether,  in  case  Mr.  Van 
Schaack  should  recover  damages  and  costs  in  his  suit  against  the 
assessors,  they  were  to  be  indemnified  by  a  charge  upon  all  ratable 
polls  and  estates,  or  only  upon  such  as  were  of  the  Congregational 
persuasion." 

No  action  is  recorded  upon  this ;  but  the  meeting  of  November, 

1  The  course  recommended  was  that  generally  adopted  at  the  east,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  favor  of  the  Baptists  of  Cambridge, 
in  a  suit  against  that  town,  which  had  also  been  sustained  in  other  cases. 

2  Letters  in  the  collection  of  Henry  Van  Schaack,  Esq.,  of  Manlius. 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD.  463 

1794,  directed  the  Committee  on  Accounts  to  ascertain  the  expense 
of  the  Van  Schaack  suit,  and  the  amount  paid  by  each  dissenter  to- 
wards it,  and  to  give  them  credit  for  it  in  the  next  town-tax, 
which  was  correspondingly  increased  for  the  Congregationalists. 

At  the  same  meeting,  it  was  voted  to  raise  £125  for  public  wor- 
ship; of  which  Mr.  Allen  was  to  receive  £110,  he  furnishing  his 
own  wood  :  the  remainder  to  go  to  the  dissenters. 

The  system  of  accepting  the  certificates  of  their  several  pastors 
in  discharge  of  the  taxes  assessed  upon  dissenters  from  Congrega- 
tionalism for  religious  purposes  continued  until  1799,  when  the 
laws  in  regard  to  the  support  of  public  worship  had,  by  a  multi- 
tude of  enactments  and  judicial  decisions,  became  so  vague  and 
conflicting,  that  it  was  necessary  to  remodel  them. 

The  new  act  required  every  town,  precinct,  or  parish  incorpo- 
rated for  religious  purposes,  to  maintain  a  public  teacher  of  mo- 
rality, piety,  and  religion,  —  the  designation  then  given  to  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  —  and  conferred  upon  each  of  those  corporations  the 
power  to  tax  its  members  for  the  support  of  a  minister  and  the 
building  of  a  suitable  house  of  worship.  By  this  law,  every 
inhabitant  in  a  town  was  presumed  to  belong  to  the  original 
parish,  unless  he  annually  procured  a  certificate  signed  by  the  pas- 
tor of  some  other  parish,  and  also  by  its  committee  specially 
elected  for  that  purpose,  that  he  commonly  and  usually,  when  in 
health,  worshipped  with  them. 

Under  this  system,  the  people  of  Pittsfield,  in  common  with 
those  of  the  rest  of  the  State,  lived  until  the  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  in  1834.  Some  amendments  of  the  law  were,  how- 
ever, made  in  1811,  which  had.  a  local  as  well  as  a  general  interest. 
Up  to  the  year  1810,  members  of  unincorporated  religious  socie- 
ties were  supposed  to  be  entitled  to  the  same  privileges  in  the  dis- 
posal of  their  taxes,  and  their  pastors  to  the  same  exemption  from 
assessment,  with  those  of  incorporated  parishes.  In  that  year,  a 
judicial  decision  overthrew  the  commonly-received  opinion,  and  an 
intense  excitement  was  caused  at  the  east,  where  scarce  one  dis- 
senting society  in  ten  was  incorporated.  The  legislature  of  1811, 
elected  under  the  influence  of  this  agitation,  made  the  law  to  con- 
form to  the  old  practice,  and  further  advanced  one  or  two  points  in  a 
liberal  direction.  Where  two  parishes  of  the  same  denomination 
existed  in  a  town,  members  of  one  were  permitted  to  transfer  their 
connection  to  the  other  in  the  same  manner  as  to  one  of  a  different 


464  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD 

creed  ;  and  non-resident  tax-payers  dissenting  from  the  faith  of  the 
town-parish  were  granted  the  same  right  to  direct  the  disposal  of 
their  taxes  which  residents  possessed.  The  two  latter  clauses  were 
of  interest  in  Pittsfield,  where  a  second  Congregational  parish, 
divided  from  the  first  upon  political  grounds,  was  springing  up, 
and  was  favored  by  wealthy  non-resident  proprietors,  including 
Oliver  Wendell. 

With  regard  to  the  rights  of  unincorporated  societies,  the  inter- 
est was  confined  to  the  Shakers,  whom  the  legislature  have  to  this 
day  steadily  refused  to  incorporate,  holding  it  inconsistent  with 
sound  policy  to  countenance  a  body  hostile  to  the  institution  of  mar- 
riage. All  the  other  religious  bodies  in  Pittsfield  were  specially  in- 
corporated, except  the  town  (now  the  first  Congregational)  parish. 
With  regard  to  this,  a  proposition  was  made,  after  the  decision  of 
the  Van  Schaack  case  in  1793,  "  to  procure  an  act  to  incorporate 
the  inhabitants  of  this  town  into  a  parish  by  the  name  of  the  Con- 
gregational Society  in  the  Town  of  Pittsfield."  Woodbridge  Little, 
Timothy  Childs,  Simon  Larned,  Daniel  Hubbard,  and  John  Chan- 
dler Williams 1  were  appointed  to  report  upon  the  measure,  and  ac- 
tually drafted  a  bill.  The  matter,  however,  was  suffered  to  drop  ; 
and  the  First  Congregational  Parish  of  Pittsfield  is  such  only  by 
virtue  of  the  general  provisions  in  the  old  statutes,  and  in  the  con- 
stitutional amendment  of  1834.2 

The  controversy  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  dissenters,  although 
sometimes  giving  occasion  for  unpleasant  incidents,  was,  upon  the 
whole,  carried  on  with  much  less  acrimony  than  usually  attended 
the  internal  discords  of  the  town.  Public  improvements  were  in 
the  mean  time  made  harmoniously ;  and  Mr.  Van  Schaack  was 
assigned  prominent  places  upon  the  various  committees,  side  by 
side  with  his  leading  opponents. 

These  who,  upon  principle,  refused  to  pay  their  assessments  for 
building  the  new  meeting-house,  were  fain  to  confess  the  benefits 
which  it  conferred  upon  the  whole  town,  and  could  not  but  show 
a  local  pride  in  its  fame. 

1  Mr.  Williams,  who  was  so  prominen-t  in  these  affairs  as  a  Congregationalist, 
became  afterwards  one  of  the  most  zealous  Episcopalians. 

2  The  First  Congregational  was  a  territorial  parish,  circumscribed  by  the  town- 
boundaries.      Those  which  were  formed  without  regard  to  such  limits,  of  such 
members  as  the  corporation  saw  fit  to  admit,  were  known   as  poW-parishes,  and 
often  extended  into  several  towns ;  as  the  Methodist  Society  of  Pittsfield,  Hancock, 
Dalton,  and  Washington,  and  the  Episcopal  parish  before  mentioned. 


HISTORY   OF  2ITTSFIELD.  465 

In  the  erection  of  the  fine  schoolhouse  connected  with  the  town, 
hall,  and  in  the  establishment  of  the  excellent  grammar-school  which 
almost  immediately  ensued,  the  amount  of  money  taken  from  the 
school-fund  was  more  than  restored ;  and,  from  1793  to  1834,  the 
different  religious  sects  of  Pittsfield  lived  together  in  as  great  har- 
mony as  the  irritations  which  the  law's  interference  with  their  mu- 
tual relations  would  admit 
80 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

DEPKECIATION  OF  PROVINCIAL  CURRENCY. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  a  correct  idea  of  the  prices  paid  in  the 
purchase  of  lands,  or  in  other  pecuniary  transactions  mentioned  in  our  story, 
previous  to  the  year  1752,  without  taking  into  consideration  the  depreciation 
of  the  currency  of  the  Province  during  that  period. 

When  lawful  money  is  specified  in  the  account,  silver  is  to  be  understood  ; 
gold  not  having  been  made  a  legal  tender  until  1761,  when  a  law  to  that 
effect  was  obtained  after  a  long  and  bitter  struggle. 

In  1C 90,  in  an  emergency  of  the  war  then  raging,  the  Province  began  the 
issue  of  treasury  notes  of  the  value  of  from  five  shillings  to  five  pounds  each  ; 
£40,000  in  amount  being  emitted.  Before  the  end  of  1692,  these  bills  de- 
preciated at  least  one-third  ;  but  the  General  Court  then  made  them  a  legal 
tender,  and  further  enacted,  that,  in  all  public  payments,  they  should  be 
received  at  an  advance  of  five  per  cent.  By  these  means,  the  bills  were 
restored  to  an  equality  with  specie,  and  kept  at  par  about  twenty  years. 

But,  in  1703,  the  government,  yielding  to  a  popular  clamor  for  an  expan- 
sion of  the  currency,  began  a  financial  system  upon  that  principle.  The 
effects  of  this  inflation  upon  the  paper  currency  were,  however,  not  very  ap- 
parent until  about  1712,  when  the  government,  being  compelled  to  extend  the 
period  for  the  redemption  of  its  notes,  the  public  confidence  in  them  was  sha- 
ken, and  they  began  steadily  to  depreciate,  and  continued  to  do  so  year  by 
year.  Previous  to  1712,  the  bills  passed  at  the  value  of  eight  shillings  for 
an  ounce  of  silver.  The  depreciation  from  that  time  is  represented  in  the 
following  table : — 

1710 1.  ...*. 

1711  C 


1712l 8s.Qd. 

1713) 

467 


468  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

1714  \ 9s. 

1715) 

1716  >  ...10s. 


1717) 


1718  ................  Us. 

I7in  .............  i2s. 

1720) 

1721  ...............  13s. 

1722  ----  .-  ..........  14s. 

1723  ...............  15s. 

1724 


17s. 
1726 

1727 

1728  ...............  16s.  6d.  —  17s.  —  18s. 

1729  ...............  19s.  —  19s.  6rf.  —  20s.  —  21s.  —  22s. 

1730  ...............  21s.  —  20s.  —  19s. 

1731  ...............  18s.  6d.—  19s. 

1732  ......  .........  19s.  6d.  —  20s.—  20s.  6d. 

1733  ...............  21s.  —  21s.  6d.  —  22s.  —  22s.  6d.  —  23s. 

1734  ...............  24s.  —  25s.  —  26s.  —  26s.  6d.  —  27s. 

1735  ...............  27s.  6d. 

1736  ...............  27s.  —  26s.  Qd. 

1737  ...............  26s.  6d.  —  27s. 

1738) 

1739  (•  ............  28s.  —  29s. 


1740) 
1741 


1744 

1745.  ..............  35s.  —  36s.  —  37s. 

1746) 

1747  (•  .............  37s.  —  38s.  —  40s.  , 

1748) 
17491 

175H  .............  60s. 

1751  I 

1752  j 


In  1737,  the  General  Court,  perceiving  the  impossibility  of  restoring  cred- 
it to  the  swollen  mass  of  its  notes,  resolved  to  issue  others  of  a  new  form,  or 
tenor,  although  not  discontinuing  the  use  of  the  old  ;  and  thus  came  into 
use  the  terms  old  and  new  tenor  in  speaking  of  the  bills  of  the  Province. 
The  different  forms  of  the  two  bills  are  given  below  :  _ 


APPENDIX. 


469 


NO.- 


OLD  TENOR. 


2CW. 


This  Indented  Bill  of  Twenty  Shillings  due  from  the  Prov- 
ince of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England  to  the  Possessor 
thereof  shall  be  in  value  equal  to  Money,  and  shall  be  accord- 
ingly accepted  by  the  Treastirer  and  Receivers  subordinate  to 
him  in  all  publick  payments  and  for  any  Stock  at  any  time  in 
the  Treasury  Boston  November  the  Twenty-first  Anno  1702 
By  Order  of  the  Great  and  General  Court  or  Assembly 


Com 


tee 


NEW   TENOR, 


TWENTY  SHILLINGS 


TWENTY  SHILLINGS 


This  bill  of  Twenty  Shillings  due  from  the  Province  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  to  the  possessor  there- 
of, shall  be  in  value  equal  to  three  ounces  of  coined  silver,  Troy 
weight,  of  sterling  alloy,  or  gold  coin  at  the  rate  of  font  potinds 
eighteen  shillings  per  ounce;  and  shall  be  accordingly  accept- 
ed by  the  Treasurer  and  receivers  subordinate  to  him  in  all 
payments  (the  duties  of  Import  and  Tunnage  of  Shipping  and 
incomes  of  the  Light  House  only  excepted,)  and  for  any  Stock 
at  any  time  in  the  Treasury. 
Boston, 

By  order  of  the  Great  and  General  Court  or  Assembly. 

TWENTY  SHILLINGS  TWENTY  SHILLINGS 


/•  Committee 
J 


470  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  law  made  one  bill  of  the  new  tenor  equal  to  three  of  the  same  denom- 
ination of  the  old ;  but  the  public  passed  them  at  the  rate  of  one  for  four, 
and  they  depreciated  together  in  that  proportion.  The  old  tenor  continued 
the  standard  of  value  in  ordinary  usage. 

The  ruinous  financial  policy  of  the  Province  was  not  begun  or  continued 
without  strenuous  opposition  at  home  and  still  stronger  in  England;  and  when, 
in  1748,  the  mother  country  agreed  to  pay  an  idemnity  of  £183,000  towards 
the  expenses  incurred  by  New  England  in  the  capture  of  Louisburg,  nearly 
the  whole  of  it  coming  to  Massachusetts,  it  was  resolved  to  appropriate  her 
proportion  to  the  redemption  of  the  paper  money  of  the  Province,  at  depre- 
ciated rates.  This  now  amounted  to  £2,200,000;  but  had  depreciated,  says 
Hildreth,  since  the  issue,  full  one-half,  the  whole  depreciation  being  at  the 
rate  of  seven  or  eight  for  one. 

In  1751,  the  specie  for  the  Louisburg  idemnity  arrived,  and  the  currency 
began  to  be  redeemed  at  a  rate  about  one-fifth  less  than  its  current  value. 
It  was  enacted  that  future  debts  should  be  paid  in  silver,  at  the  rate  of  6s.  8d. 
the  ounce.  And  treasury  notes  were  not  again  issued  by  Massachusetts  un- 
til the  Revolution ;  although  certificates  of  indebtedness  were  given  by  the 
treasury,  and  passed  current,  with  more  or  less  depreciation,  among  the  people. 

But,  though  the  Province  paper  in  1752  ceased  to  be  a  legal  tender,  an 
account  by  an  officer  of  the  treasury,  in  1753,  showed  that  £131,996,  equal 
in  value  to  £17,599  lawful  money,  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

The  committee  of  the  legislature  had  burnt  bills,  at  the  town-house  in 
Boston,  representing  the  amount  of  £1,792,236. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1 754,  Harrison  Gray,  the  Provincial  Treasurer, 
issued  a  notice  that  all  bills  still  out  must  be  brought  to  him  for  exchange  by 
the  first  day  of  the  next  June,  or  be  forfeited ;  and  that  any  person  subse- 
quently passing  them  would  be  subject  to  a  fine  of  £10  for  each  offence. 
This  appears  to  have  effectually  disposed  of  both  the  old  and  new  tenor. 

N.  B.  —  For  the  facts  above  given,  we  are  indebted  generally  to  the  "  His- 
torical Account  of  Massachusetts  Currency,"  by  Joseph  B.  Felt,  published  in 
1839,  —  a  valuable  book,  now  out  of  print. 


B. 

REV.   THOMAS  ALLEN'S   DIARY. 

DURING  some  of  the  most  interesting  years  of  the  Revolution,  Rev.  Mr. 
Allen  kept  a  pocket  diary ;  in  which  from  time  to  time  occur  minutes  and 
memoranda,  sometimes  of  curious  and  often  of  instructive  interest.  Of  the 
information  contained  in  many  of  these,  we  have  made  use  in  the  text  of  this 
volume :  others  find  more  appropriate  places  in  the  Appendix.  The  book  in 
which  the  diary  is  kept  is  itself  of  interest ;  being  "  Aitken's  General  Ameri- 
can Register,  and  the  Gentleman's  and  Tradesman's  Complete  Annual  Ac- 


APPENDIX.  471 

count  Book,  and  Calendar,  For  the  Pocket  or  Desk ;  For  the  Year  of  our 
Lord  1 773.  Published  at  Philadelphia ;  by  Joseph  Crukshank,  for  R.  Aitken, 
Bookseller,  opposite  the  London  Coffee-House,  Front  Street."  The  Preface 
states  that  this  was  the  first  book  ever  published  in  America. 

REVOLUTIONARY   MABKET-PRICES. 

January,  1779. 

Wheat,  twelve  dollars  per  bushel. 
Indian  Corn,  five  dollars  per  bushel. 
Tea  (Bohea),  sixteen  dollars  per  pound. 
Sugar  (Maple),  nine  shillings  per  pound. 
Sugar  (Loaf),  two  shillings  per  pound. 
Rum,  twenty  dollars  per  gallon. 
Molasses,  twenty  dollars  per  gallon. 

July,  1779. 

New-England  Rum,  thirty  dollars  per  gallon. 
Bohea  Tea,  ten  dollars  per  pound. 
Brown  Sugar,  three  dollars  per  pound. 
Wheat,  forty  dollars  per  bushel. 
Corn  (Indian),  twenty  dollars  per  bushel. 

1780. 

Wheat,  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  per  bushel,  or  9s.  silver. 
Bohea  Tea,  12s.  silver;  140  dollars  Continental  currency. 

PRICES   OF   SOME   OF   THE   ARTICLES   AND   NECESSARIES   OF   LIFE. 

July,  1778. 

Labor,  four  dollars  per  day.                  Times  as  much  as  formerly ....  8 

Women's  shoes,  five  dollars  per  pair.  "  "  "       5 

Ploughing,  eight  dollars  per  day.  "  '            "  "       8 

Rum,  1 7s.  per  quart.  "  "  "       11 

Tea,  twelve  dollars  per  pound.  "  "  "  ....  14 

Clothing  in  general.  "  "  "  ....  7 

Salt.  "  "  "       30 

MR.  ALLEN'S  LOANS  TO  THE  CONTINENT. 

Value  of  my  Continental  certificates  as  stated  by  Loan  Office  treasurer :  — 

1 1th  June,  1 7 77,  of  three  hundred  dollars,  is 300 

19th  Jan.,  1778,  of  two  hundred  dollars.. .'. 200 

17th  March,  1778,  of  two  hundred  dollars,  is 106.36.0 

Connecticut...  ...    606.36 


472  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

2d  June,  1778 150f  § 

46th  May,  1779 •. . . . 045$* 

Ditto 045£f 

240 
606 


846 
Interest  of  the  end  of  1785 277 


$1123 
[Value  of  my  Continental  certificates :  — 

llth  June,  1777,  of  300  dollars,  is 300 

19th  January,  1778,  of  200  dollars,  is 130 

17th  March,  1778,  of  200  dollars,  is 106 

2d  June,  1 778,  400  dollars,  is 150 

26th  May,  1779,  1200  dollars,  is 89 

5th  October,  1779,  200  dollars,  is 9 

784 
May,  1785,  interest  supposed  to  be  260  dollars. 260 

$1044] 

The  statement  enclosed  in  brackets  is  crossed  in  the  original  by  erasure 
lines. 

Dec,  31.  1787.  —  What  the  Continent  owes  me  at  this  time,  reckoning 
interest  from  1782,  Dec.  31,  to  the  above  date : —  ' 

Connecticut  certificates  as  on  the  opposite  page,  total 606  dol. 

Massachusetts'  total. 150 

90 

846  doL 
Interest,  five  years 253 

Dec.  31,  1787,  this  is 1099 

I  have  by  me  a  certificate  for 30  dol. 

* 

1129  dol. 

RECEIPT   TO   MAKE   INK. 

Take  of  the  bark  of  soft  maple,  of  witch  hazel,  and  alder,  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  the  first  with  the  two  last,  and  boil  them  well  in  water,  and  add  a 
small  quantity  of  gum-arabic,  and  your  ink  will  be  good.  Put  some  of  the 
aforesaid  gum  into  the  ink  when  it  is  made  of  ink-powder. 


APPENDIX. 


473 


DEPRECIATION   OF   CONTINENTAL   CURRENCY. 

In   another  memorandum  book  of  Mr.  Allen's,  the  following  tables  are 
found : — 

State  Scale,  — 100  Silver. 
1777. 

January 105 

February  107 

March 109 

April 102 

May 

June 


115 

120 

July 125 

August 150 

September 175 

October 275 

November 300 

December 310 

1778. 

January 325 

February 350 

March 375 

April 400 

May 400 

June 400 

July 425 

August 450 

September 475 

October 500 

November 545 

December 634 

1779. 

January 742 

February : 868 

March 1000 

April 1104 

May 1250 

June 1342 

July ...1477 

August 1630 

September 1800 

November 2300 

December..  2593 


1780. 

January 2934 

February 3322 

March 3736 

April 4000 


March  1, 
Sept.  1, 
March  1, 
Sept.  1, 
Mar.  18, 


1778,  D(oUar)  Silver  =  If 

1778,  1     = 

1779,  1     = 
1779,  1     = 
1779,  1     — 


4 
10 
18 
40 


Continental  Scale. 
1777. 

September 1000 

October 911 

November 828 

December 754 

1778. 

January 685 

February 623 

March ^.571 

April.. 497 

May 434 

June 378 

July 330 

August .- 287 

September 250 

October 215 

November 183 

December 157 

.       1779. 

January 1 34 

February 115 

March 100 

April 90 

May 82 

June 74 

July 67 


474  HISTORY   OP  PITTSFIELD. 


August 61 

September 55 

October 49 

November 43 

December 38 


1780. 


January 34 

February 30 

March 26 

March 25 


1777. 

February.  —  Died  at  Peekskill,  Col.  Seth  Pomeroy ;  a  good  friend  to  his 
country.  Pleurisy. 

March  16.  —  Engaged  in  the  Continental  service. 

March  20.  —  Was  inoculated  for  the  small-pox  at  Sheffield. 

May  3.  —  Had  twenty-seven  .old  sheep,  seventeen  of  which  were  ewes,  and 
fourteen  lambs ;  which  is  forty-one. 

May  5.  —  Sowed  flaxseed,  and  planted  June  potatoes. 

May  29.  —  Finished  planting. 

May.  —  Tommy  fell  into  a  deep  place  in  the  river,  and  providentially 
escaped  drowning  by  having  timely  assistance  near.  The  Lord's  name  be 
praised ! 

May  28.  —  Brought  a  salmon  from  Northampton  behind  me  without  harm 
to  it,  though  it  was  warm  weather. 

llth  day  of  June.  —  Set  out  from  home  to  join  the  army  at  Ticonderoga ; 
returned  home  July  13. 

18th  July.  —  Green  peas  plenty,  and,  soon  after,  stringed  beans. 

1778. 

March.  —  An  uncommon  season  for  a  great  depth  of  snow ;  drifts  being 
over  the  fences  in  many  places.  It  wasted  fast  March  12,  13,  14,  15. 

March  23.  —  Began  to  make  sugar,  being  too  early. 

May  16.  —  Load  of  shad  from  Kinderhook,  or  rather  from  Schodack. 

July  9.  —  The  first  mess  of  green  peas. 

July  12.  —  Ended  reading  "  The  Family  Expositor  "  for  the  first  time  in 
my  family,  and  began  to  read  it  through  again,  July  19. 

Oct.  30.  — Finished  getting  in  my  sauce. 

Aug.  2.  —  Lord's  Day ;  cucumbers  for  the  first  time. 

1779. 
*  Little  or  no  snow  in  February,  and  the  most  open  winter  I  ever  knew. 

My  sheep  did  not  eat  two  hundred  pounds  of  hay  this  winter,  till  March 
"came  in. 

March  22,  Monday.  —  Brunswicker  came  to  live  with  me. 
Sheared  sheep  April  30  ;  too  early. 

Aug.  21.  —  This  day  received  the  melancholy  tidings  of  brother  Moses 
Allen's  death,  who  was  drowned  in  making  his  escape  from  a  prison-ship  near 
Savannah,  beginning  of  January,  1779. 


APPENDIX.  475 

In  September.  —  Sowed  my  wheat,  being  one  week  too  late. 

October,  made  a  journey  to  Albany  with  my  son.  Returning,  his  horse 
fell  and  rolled  quite  over  him,  and  yet  he  was  preserved  unhurt  in  any  great 
degree,  to  my  astonishment.  How  wonderful  is  the  preservation  of  man  ! 
The  Lord's  name  be  praised  I 

1780. 

As  long  and  severe  a  winter  as  almost  was  ever  known.  Snow  very  much 
drifted  and  very  deep. 

Aug.  14. — Mowed  my  meadow,  and  finished  mowing  Tuesday,  and 
got  it  all  home  Friday  night.  It  is  best  to  mow  it  all  down  the  first  day,  if 
possible. 

August  31.  —  Sowed  my  wheat,  and  finished  dragging  it  the  third  day 
after. 

Next  year  I  am  to  sow  some  flax,  peas,  barley,  and  oats. 


c. 

NAMES   OF  EAELY  SETTLERS. 

Rev.  Dr.  Field,  who  made  inquiries,  when  sources  of  information  were 
more  abundant  than  they  now  are,  into  the  early  settlement  of  the  town,  pub- 
lished the  result  in  1844.  He  appears  to  have  relied  chiefly  upon  traditions, 
and  to  have  been  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  measures  for  settlement  be- 
fore 1752,  so  that  some  errors  naturally  appear  in  his  statement.  We,  how- 
ever, here  reproduce  the  essential  portions,  which  may  be  compared  with  the 
text  of  the  present  work. 

In  1752-3,  Solomon  Deming  moved  his  family  into  the  east  part  of  the 

town This  year  Charles  Goodrich  drove  the  first  team  and  cart 

into  the  town,  cutting  his  way  for  a  number  of  miles  through  the  woods. 
Nathaniel  Fairfield  also  this  year  settled  on  the  road  running  east  from  the 
house  of  the  late  Deacon  Daniel  Crofoot  and  Zebediah  Stiles,  on  a  rise  of 
ground  west  of  the  dwelling  of  the  late  Dr.  Childs. 

It  is  understood  that  Abner  and  Isaac  Dewey,  Jacob  Ensign,  Heztkiah 
Jones,  Samuel  Taylor,  Elias  Willard,  and  Dea.  Josiah  Wright  became  ?t-t- 
tlers  this  year,  and  that  Simeon  a*nd  Stephen  Crofoot,  David  Bush,  and  Gol. 
William  Williams  became  settlers  the  year  following!  .  .  . 

In  1 754,  Eli  Root,  Esq.,  Ephraim  Stiles,  William  Wright,  and  perhaps 
others,  became  inhabitants.  .  .  . 

On  the  road  running  west  from  the  centre  were  Zebediah  and  Ephraim 
Stiles,  Ezra  Strong,  Charles  Miller,  David  Roberts,  David  Ashley,  Amos  and 
Oliver  Root,  and  others  by  the  name  of  Wright,  Robbins,  Belden,  Hubbard, 
Francis  and  Wadhams ;  east  were  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  John  Strong,  Dr.  Col- 
ton,  the  Crofoots.  and  Jacob  Ensign  ;  and  further  on  to  the  north-east  Josiah 


476  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

and  Charles  Goodrich,  Israel  Stoddard,  Israel  Dickinson,  and  Col.  Win.  Wil- 
liams ;  south  were  Col.  Easton,  Sylvanus  Piercey,  Ezekiel  Root.  Daniel  Mil- 
ler, James  Lord,  and  Elisha  Jones.  Rufus  Allen  kept  a  public  house  on  the 
corner  now  occupied  by  William  B.  Cooley  [in  1868,  by  the  Berkshire  Life 
Insurance  Company],  and  farther  north,  towards  Lanesboro',  were  Joseph  Al- 
len, and  the  families  by  the  name  of  Baker  and  Keeler.  On  the  road  east- 
ward of  Daniel  Weller's,  or  near  it,  were  the  Fairfields,  David  Bush,  Eli 
Root,  Esq.,  Hezekiah  Jones,  Wm.  Brattle,  and  Solomon  Deming.  Col.  Wil- 
liams early  moved  on  to  this  road  from  the  spot  where  Levi  Goodrich  now 
lives,  and  where  Lieut.  Graves  settled  after  him.  Charles  Goodrich,  Esq., 
left  the  farm  on  which  he  first  lived,  and  settled  near  him. 

A  large  portion  of  the  early  settlers  were  from  Westfield,  —  all  by  the  name 
of  Ashley,  Bagg,  Bush,  Cadwell,  Dewey,  Francis,  Hubbard,  Noble,  Piercey, 
Sackett,  Stiles,  Taylor,  and  Weller.  Hezekiah  Jones  was  also  from  this  town. 
Those  of  the  name  of  Brattle,  Deming,  Goodrich,  Gunn,  Lord,  Robbins,  and 
Willard  were  from  Wethersfield,  Ct.  The  Aliens,  Bakers,  Fail-fields, 
Phelpses,  Stoddards,  Strongs,  and  Wrights  were  from  Northampton ;  and  the 
Crofoots  from  Belchertown. 

1 759.  The  following  persons  are  understood  from  circumstances  to  have 
moved  into  the  town  this  year ;  viz.,  Samuel  Birchard,  Daniel  Hubbard, 
Daniel  and  Jesse  Sackett,  and  Jonathan  Taylor.  I  say  are  understood  from 
circumstances  to  have  moved  in  this  year ;  for  there  is  no  inconsiderable  dif- 
ficulty in  finding  exactly,  at  this  time,  at  what  period  the  early  settlers  plant- 
ed themselves  here.  ...  In  1 760,  David  and  Oliver  Ashley,  William  Fran- 
cis, and  Gideon  Gunn  are  understood  to  have  become  settlers.  Joshua  Rob- 
bins  and  Ezekiel  Root  became  inhabitants  before  the  incorporation  of  the 
town.  ...  In  1761,  Gideon  Goodrich,  James  Lord,  Charles  Miller,  Thomas 
Morgan,  Daniel  and  David  Noble,  Wm.  Phelps,  and  John  Remington  are 
understood  to  have  become  inhabitants. 

In  1762-3-4,  the  following  persons  are  understood  to  have  settled  here; 
namely,  Phinehas  Belden,  Solomon  Crosby,  Israel  Dickinson,  Elisha  Jones, 
John  Morse,  David  Roberts,  Aaron  Stiles,  Israel  Stoddard,  John  and  Caleb 
Wadhams,  Aaron  and  Phinehas  Baker,  Wm.  Brattle,  Col.  James  Easton, 
Benjamin  and  Josiah  Goodrich,  Moses  Miller,  Joseph  Phelps,  Amos  Root, 
John  Williams,  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  Jas.  D.  Colt,  Ezra  and  King  Strong,  Dr. 
Colton,  Rufus  Allen,  John  Strong ;  and  a  number  of  others  probably  be- 
came inhabitants  during  these  years.  Nol  long  after,  Joseph  Allen,  David 
Bagg,  Lieut.  Moses  Graves,  Woodbridge  Little,  Esq.,  Col.  Oliver  Root,  Eben- 
ezer  White,  and  many  others,  settled  in  town. 

Most  of  the  inhabitants  who  have  been  mentioned  settled  on  the  house- 
lots  ;  some,  on  the  squares. 

Col.  Williams  and  Elisha  Jones  were  from  Weston ;  Lieut.  Graves  and 
Israel  Dickinson  were  from  Hatfield  ;  Thomas  Morgan  was  from  Springfield, 
and  John  Remington  from  West  Springfield.  Ebenezer  White  was  from 
Hadley.  David  Roberts  was  from  Hartford,  and  Jacob  Ensign  from  West 


APPENDIX.  477 

Hartford,  Ct.  Col.  Easton  was  immediately  from  Litchfield,  previously  from 
Hartford.  Joseph  Keeler  was  from  Ridgefield,  and  Woodbridge  Little,  Esq., 
from  Lebanon,  and  James  D.  Colt  from  Lyme,  in  the  same  State. 

Valentine  Rathbun,  from  Stonington,  Ct.,  settled  in  this  town  about  1770; 
Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  from  Deerfield,  in  1771;  and  Stephen  Fowler  and  Josiah 
Moseley,  from  Westfield,  about  1772.  Col.  John  Brown,  from  Sandisfield, 
settled  here  in  1773.  In  1775,  Gad  Merrill,  from  Hebron,  Ct,  settled  to  the 
north  of  the  east  branch  of  the  Housatonic,  near  Dalton  line ;  and,  in  the 
spring  of  1 780,  William  and  John  Partridge  settled  a  little  west  of  him. 


D. 

EECOEDS    OF   THE    KEVOLTJTIONAKY    SERVICE    OF    PITTS- 
FIELD. 

From  the  Military  Rolls  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

In  some  cases,  the  companies  whose  rolls  are  here  given  were  made  up 
by  levies  from  two  or  more  towns  ;  and,  as  it  is  impossible  always  to  distin- 
guish to  which  the  soldiers  should  be  credited,  this  list  is  printed  without  at- 
tempting to  discriminate. 

CAPT.  NOBLE'S  MINUTE  MEN. 

List  of  Capt.  Noble's  minute-men  who  marched  to  Cambridge  on  the 
Lexington  alarm :  — 

Term  of  service,  nine  days;  entered  service  April  22,  1775. 

Captain,  David  Noble  of  Pittsfield.  First  Lieut.,  Joseph  Welch  of  Rich- 
mond. Second  Lieut.,  Josiah  Wright  of  Pittsfield.  Sergeants,  Jeremiah 
Miller,  Richmond;  Joseph  More,  Pittsfield;  Ambrose  Hall,  Richmond; 
Nathaniel  Porter,  Pittsfield.  Corporals,  Ebenezer  Williams,  Richmond ;  Solo- 
mon Martin,  Pittsfield ;  Thomas  Scott,  Richmond ;  Jonathan  Stoddard,  Pitts- 
field.  Fifer,  George  Leonard,  Lenox.  Drummer,  Joshua  Done,  of  Pittsfield. 


Privates  from  Richmond. 


Hill. 


Benjamin  Pynchon. 
Paul  Tupping  [Tupper  ?] 
Dan  Tubs. 
Amaziah  Chapin. 

A.  Parmele. 
Jonathan  Hewley. 
Isaiah . 

B.  Currier. 


Joel  Osborne. 
Jose  Hubbard. 
Rufus  Parmele. 
William  Lang. 
Fred.  Hill. 
Wm.  Raymont. 
Reuben  Coggwell. 
David  Gaston. 


478 


HISTOEY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Phinehas  Gilbert. 
Hugh  Mitchell. 
Benjamin  Deming. 
Timothy  Stearns. 
Hugh  Berry. 
Wm.  Cady. 
Jonathan  Blakesley. 
Abraham  Frost. 
John  Corbin. 
Warham  Strong. 
Zebediah  Stiles. 
Joel  Osborn. 
Wm.  Scott. 
Joel  Dickinson. 
Nathaniel  Dickinson. 
Azariah  Egleston. 
Moses  Goodrich. 
Samuel  Cross. 
Aaron  Miller. 
Moses  Noble. 


Privates  from  Pittsfield. 

Thomas  Miller. 
John  King. 
Jerry  Butler. 
Caleb  Goodrich. 
Ebenezer  Wright. 
Timothy  Miller. 
Joseph  Elton. 
Joseph  Cotton. 
Richard  Rossiter. 
Charles  Belding. 
John  Gardner. 
Jabez  Chalmers. 
Jonathan  Bill. 
Benjamin  Austin. 
David  Beckwith. 
Walter  Welch. 
James  Elton. 
Aaron  Stiles. 
Thomas  Taylor. 
Timothy  Childs. 


Jabez  Chalmers,  John  Gardner,  Jonathan  Bill,  volunteered  in  Arnold's 
expedition  against  Canada  via  the  Kennebec. 

Benjamin  Austin  and  David  Beckwith  enlisted  in  "  the  train  "  early  in  July. 


ROLL  of  Capt.  David  Noble's  company  of  eight  months'  men  in  Col.  Patter- 
son's regiment  at  Cambridge,  1775:  — 

Officers. 

Captain,  David  Noble,  Pittsfield.  First  Lieut.,  Joseph  Welch,  Richmond. 
Second  Lieut.,  Josiah  Wright,  Pittsfield.  Surgeon  [to  the  regiment],  Timothy 
Childs,  Pittsfield.  Surgeon's  Mate,  Jonathan  Lee,  Pittsfield.  Sergeants,  Jere- 
miah Miller,  Richmond;  Joseph  More,  Pittsfield;  Ambrose  Hull  [or  Hall], 
Richmond;  Nathaniel  Porter,  Pittsfield.  Corporals,  Ebenezer  Williams, 
Richmond  ;  Solomon  Martin,  Pittsfield ;  Thomas  Scott,  Richmond ;  Jonathan 
Stoddard,  Pittsfield. 

Privates. 

Benjamin  Austin. 

George  Butler. 

Hugh  Berry. 

Jonathan  Blakesley. 

Jonathan  Bill. 

David  Beckwith. 


Samuel  Cross. 


John  Cady. 
Jabez  Chalmers. 
WUliam  Cady. 
Benjamin  Deming. 


Abraham  Frost. 
John  Gardner. 


APPENDIX.  479 


Moses  Goodrich. 

Phinehas  Gilbert. 

John  King. 

Joshua  Done  (Doane),  drummer. 

Moses  Noble. 


Timothy  Stearns. 
Aaron  Miller. 
Thomas  Miller. 
Seth  Macomber. 


OTHER  PITTSFIELD  SOLDIERS  in  the  eight  months'  service :  — 
Prince  Hall,  in  Col.  Wm.  Prescott's  regiment. 
Thomas  Parks,  in  "Wm.  Goodrich's  company,  Patterson's  regiment. 
Joseph  Colson,  drummer  in  Col.  Jonathan  Brewer's  regiment. 
Eleazer  Keiler,  sergeant  in  Capt.  Asa  Bower's  company,  Woodbridge's 
regiment. 

John  Lewis,  surgeon's  mate  Eben  Brewer's  regiment. 


PITTSFIELD  MEX  in  Capt.  Aaron  Rowley's  company,  Col.  Symond's  regi- 
ment, called  out  by  Gen.  Gates,  for  Saratoga,  from  April  26  to  May  19, 1 777 :  — 

Lieutenant,  Wm.  Ford.  Sergeant,  Joel  Stevens.  Corporal,  Amos  Delano, 
Samuel  Coggswell,  Isaac  Coggswell,  Ebenezer  Phelps,  Timothy  Cadwell. 
Jehiel  Wright,  Jason  Warren,  Samuel  Willard,  Linus  Parker  [then  of  Lenox], 
Ozias  Wright. 

Gideon  Gunn  and  Amos  Root  served  in  the  same  regiment. 


BATTLE    OF     BEXXIXGTON. 

PAY-ROLL  of  Lieut.  Wm.  Ford's  Company  in  Col.  David  Rossiter's  Detach- 
ment of  Militia  from  the  County  of  Berkshire  for  the  Public  Service  at  Ben- 
nington  from  Aug.  13,  to  Aug.  20,  1777  (Pittsfield)  :  — 

Lieutenants,  Wm.  Ford,  Joseph  Allen.  Sergeants,  James  Easton,  Charles 
Goodrich. 


Privates. 


James  Noble. 
Denam  Tupper. 
Rufus  Allen. 
James  Brattle. 
John  Corbin. 
Warham  Strong. 
Nathaniel  Hale. 
Francis  Plumer. 


Nathaniel  Gorcester  (?) 
Rev.  Thomas  Allen. 
Eleazer  Goodrich 
Timothy  Cadwell. 
Jehiel  Wright. 
Jaffry  (negro). 
Gideon  Goodrich. 


PAY-ROLL  of  Lieut.  James  Hubbard's  Company  in  Lieut.  Col.  Rossiter's 
detachment  of  Militia  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  the  Service  of 
U.  S.  A.,  commencing  Aug.  17, 1777,  and  ending  when  they  were  discharged, 
Aug.  22 :  — 

Lieutenant,  James  Hubbard.  Sergeants,  Aaron  Noble,  King  Strong,  Joel 
Stevens.  Corporals,  Joshua  Narrimore,  Amos  Delano,  Joseph  Phelps. 


480 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Privates. 


Oliver  Boot. 
James  Colt. 
Paul  Hutchinson. 
Paul  Hubbard. 
Elnathan  Phelps. 
Zaccheus  Hurlbert. 
Oliver  Burt. 
Peter  Wright. 
Jacob  Gleason. 
Solomon  Lothrop. 
Jona'n  Stoddard. 
David  Ashley. 


Wm.  Miller. 
Nathaniel  Davis. 
Caleb  Wadhams. 
John  Churchill. 
Frederic  Stanley. 
Joseph  Price. 
Lemuel  Phelps. 
Calvin  Cogswell. 
Josiah  Talcott. 
Nehemiah  Hopkins. 
Aaron  Drake. 
John  Deming. 


AT    STONE    ARABIA. 

A  PAY-ROLL  of  the  Field  and  Staff  Officers  of  a  Regiment  of  Levies 
commanded  by  Col.  John  Brown,  late  of  Pittsfield,  deceased,  raised  by  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  for  the  term  of  three  months :  — 

John  Brown,  Colonel,  appointed  July  14,  1780;  served  three  months, 
three  days;  pay  (per  month),  £22.  10s. 

Oliver  Root,  Major,  appointed  July  8 ;  served  three  months,  twenty-four 
days ;  pay,  £15. 

James  Easton,  Adjutant,  appointed  July  1 7 ;  served  three  months,  fifteen 
days ;  pay,  £12. 

Elias  Willard,  Quartermaster,  appointed  July  1 7  ;  served  three  months, 
fifteen  days  ;  pay,  £85. 

Oliver  Brewster,  Surgeon,  appointed  July  23 ;  served  two  months,  twenty- 
seven  days  ;  pay,  £18.  

A  PAY-ROLL  of  Capt.  Wm.  Ford's  Company  in  Col.  John  Brown's  Regi- 
ment in  the  service  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  commencing  July  21,  1780,  and  ending 
Oct.  21,  1780:  — 

Captain,  Wm.  Ford.  Lieutenants,  Alpheus  Spencer,  Abel  Pearson.  Ser- 
geants, Samuel  Wheaton,  Daniel  Rathbone,  Eleazur  Slosson,  Timothy  Can- 
dee.  Corporals,  James  Baker,  Nath'l  Tobie,  Nathan  Ingraham,  Barth'w 
Bond.  Drummer,  Shubael  Austin.  Fifer,  Thomas  McKnight. 


Benoni  Gleason. 
John  Cummington. 
John  Phelps. 
Thos.  Burt. 
Jason  Robbins. 
David  Taylor. 
John  More. 


Privates. 


Nath'l  Goodrich. 
Levi  Coggswell. 
John  North. 
Ezekiel  Smith. 
Henry  Bell. 
Ezekiel  Case. 
Joel  Ludd. 


APPENDIX. 


481 


Wm.  Milliken. 

Win.  McKnight. 

Jona'n  Bateman. 

Philon  Stoddard. 

Gilbert  Goodrich. 

David  Clark. 

Asahel  Harrison. 

Aaron  Adams. 

Zadoc  Hewett. 

Solomon  Bliss. 

John  Lewis. 

David  Sears. 

Oliver  Belding. 

Peleg  Carlton. 

Jehiel  Stearns. 

Wm.  Baker. 

Josiah  Stiles. 

Joseph  Reed. 

John  Noble. 

Calvin  Easton. 

Nathan  Parks. 
Thos.  [Roll  mutilated]  R. 
Three  names  "forgotten," 
North,  jun.,  Uriah  Welch, 


Wm.  Hatch. 

Reuben  Carlton. 

Calvin  Dunham. 

Warren  Mace. 
'    Elisha  Carter. 

Joseph  Hardy. 

Colman  Andrews. 

Moses  Tomblin.  • 

Joseph  Porter. 

Isaac  Foot  [or  Israel]. 

Joseph  Porter,  jun. 

Amos  Woodruff. 

Seth  Newel. 

Seth  Bond. 

Joel  Dean. 

Shubael  Wollison. 

James  Ellison. 

Warren  Hall. 

James  Reed. 

Charles  Hyde. 

Joseph  Tuhel. 
M-rick,  D.     Sworn  to  before  Justice  Goodrich, 
and  reported  in  a  supplementary  roll,  —  John 
John  Slossori. 


PAY-ROLL  of  Capt.  Rufus  Allen's  Company  of  Militia  of  Matross  in  Col. 
Rossiter's  Regiment  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  Pittsfield,  com- 
mencing Oct.  14,  1 780,  ending  Oct.  1 7,  1 780.  Travel,  40  miles  :  — 

Captain,  Rufus  Allen.  Lieutenants,  Oswald  Williams  and  Joseph  Allen. 
Sergeants,  Elijah  Crofoot,  Thomas  Taylor,  Paul  Hubbard.  Corporals,  James 
Brattle,  Eli  Root,  Benjamin  Judd. 

Privates, 
Thomas  Miller. 
Adoniram  Hinman. 
John  Stearns. 
Daniel  Barber. 
James  Netting. 
Hezekiah  Wolcott. 


Daniel  Merrill. 


Joseph  Hall. 
John  King. 
John  Francis. 
Thomas  Keller. 
Wm.  Miller. 
Joel  Walker. 
Moses  Bartlett. 


PAY-ROLL  of  Detachment  commanded  by  Lieut.  Joel  Stevens  in  CoL 
David  Rossiter's  Regiment,  Pittsfield,  Oct.  18,  to  Oct.  21,  1780.  40  miles 
travel  allowed :  — 

Lieutenants,  Joel  Stevens,  Aaron  Noble.  Clerk,  Francis  Plumer.  Ser- 
geants, Amos  Delano,  Martin  Bagg.  Corporals,  Peter  Sullard,  Ebenezer 
Wright.  31 


482 


HISTOKY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Soldiers. 


Tim'y  CadweU. 
Abel  Branch. 
Nathaniel  Davis. 
Enoch  Baker. 
Caleb  Wadhams. 
Edmund  Wright. 
John  Deming. 


Titus  Wright. 
Paul  Guilford. 
Daniel  Burt. 
Amos  Root,  Jr. 
Timothy  Cook. 
Nathaniel  Welch. 


LIEUT.  JOEL  STEVENS'S  DETACHMENT  called  out  Oct.  15,  1780,  to  Oct. 
18,  1780,  in  alarm  at  Fort  Edward,  allowed  40  miles  travel :  — 

Lieutenants,  Joel  Stevens,  Aaron  Noble.  Clerk,  Francis  Plumer.  Ser- 
geants, Amos  Delano,  Martin  Bagg,  Josh'a  Narrimore.  Corporals,  Paul 
Sullard,  Ebenezer  Wright. 

Privates. 
Paul  Guilford. 
Elijah  Ames. 
Peter  Wright. 
Oliver  Burt. 
Nathaniel  Davis. 
John  Jordon. 
Daniel  Brown. 


Abel  Branch. 
George  Butler. 
Abiather  Millard. 


Benjamin  Phelps. 
Benjamin  Coggswell. 
Ambrose  Booth. 
Paul  Hutchinson. 
Caleb  Wadhams. 
Amos  Root,  jun. 
Amos  Welch. 
William  Cady. 
Enoch  Baker. 
Matthew  Wright. 


PAY-ROLL  of  Capt.  Joel  Stevens's  Company  in  Col.  David  Rossiter's 
Regiment,  Pittsfield,  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  alarm  at 
Saratoga.  Entered  service  Oct.  12,  1781.  Discharged  Oct.  25,  1781. 
Travel,  160  miles:  — 

Captain,  Joel  Stevens.  Lieutenant,  Lebbeus  Backus.  Clerk,  Francis 
Plumer.  Sergeants,  James  Brattle,  Benja'n  Chamberlain. 


Privates. 


Jonathan  Lattimer. 
Shubael  Austin. 
Martin  Kingsbury. 
Joshua  Bigelow. 
Wm.  Bond. 
Asa  Silver. 
Phinehas  Cady. 
Israel  Phelps. 
Phinehas  Cole. 


Wm.  Williams. 
Herman  Jones. 
Jonathan  Loomis. 
Simeon  Babcock. 
Levi  Snow. 
Josiah  Goodrich. 
Joshua  Bobbins. 
Warren  Cady. 
Zenas  Goodrich. 


APPENDIX. 


483 


Calvin  Sprague. 
Henry  Taylor. 
Phillip  Foot. 
Amos  Welch. 
Abiather  Millard. 
Jonathan  Noble. 
Azariah  Root. 
Lyman  Baker 
Walter  Walker. 
Daniel  Jones. 
Caleb  Wadhams. 
David  Ashley. 
James  DeWolf. 
Thomas  Davis. 
Nath'l  Davis. 
George  Concert. 
Ezra  Stearns. 
John  Wheelwright. 
Calvin  Chesman. 
Benjamin  Phelps. 


Wm.  Weller 
Francis  Belknap. 
Jeremiah  Blanchafd. 
Sol.  Sackett. 
Eben'r  Wright. 
Selah  Lusk. 
Stephen  West. 
Daniel  Coggswell. 
Benjamin  Gallop. 
Nicholas  Cotterel. 
Thomas  Keiler. 
Aaron  Bigsby. 
Palmer  Sherman. 
Ebenezer  Williams. 
Nathan  Phillips. 
Benjamin  Judd. 
Rufus  Woodward. 
Timothy  Cook. 
Thomas  Lewis. 
Nathan  Taggard. 


A  Pay-roll  of  the  six  months'  men  raised  by  and  for  the  Town  of  Pittsfield,  and  em- 
ployed in  the  Continental  service,  in  the  year  1 780.     ( Continental  pay. ) 


Men's  names. 

Time 
marched. 

Time 
discharged. 

No.  of 
miles. 

Time  in 
service. 
Weeks.    Days. 

Wages  due. 

£    8.  d. 

Othniel  Williamson 

Aug.  2 

Dec.  15 

100 

4              9 

8  12 

Lieut.  Williamson    ' 

«     <« 

Feb.  12,  1781 

110 

6              5 

12     6  8 

John  Ford 

"  10 

Dec.  21,  1780 

110 

4            16 

9     1  4 

Azariah  Root 

"     2 

"    16,    " 

110 

4           18 

9     4 

Reuben  Gunn 

Sept.  3 

Marcb.3,1781 

110 

6             5 

12     6  g 

Isaac  Isaacs 

Aug28 

Feb.  28 

110 

6             5 

12     6  8 

George  Randow 

"     3 

March  3 

110 

7             5 

14     6  8 

Hosea  Merrill 

"     3 

Dec.  19 

110 

4           21 

9     8 

Abner  Hathaway 

"  23 

Feb.  23 

110 

6             5 

12     6  8 

Jacob  Wright 

"    " 

Dec.     9 

100 

3           21 

7     8 

Daniel  Bad(b)cock 

July  27 

Jan.   21 

110 

6             5 

12     6  8 

Elijah  Root 

Aug.  3 

«      it 

110 

4           23 

9  10  8 

£148  17  4 


Moses  Cook,  supposed  to  have  deserted. 
Roger  Welch,  supposed  to  have  deserted. 
Samuel  Spencer,  supposed  to  have  deserted. 
Ebenezer  Poppoonuck,  died  in  the  service. 
Titus  (Negro),  died  in  the  service. 


484 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


A  PAY-ROLL  of  the  detachment  of  militia  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
Wm.  Wells,  in  the  Third  Regiment,  in  the  County  of  Berkshire,  on  the 
alarm  at  Saratoga,  Oct.  29,  1781 :  — 

William  Wells,  Capt. ;  William  Brattle,  Lieut. ;  Caleb  Culver,  Zenas  Root, 
Paul  Hubbard,  Jonathan  Hewett,  Sergt.;  Phillip  Lewis,  Robert  Francis, 
Corporals ;  Samuel  Goodrich,  Drummer. 


Privates. 


Cemyour  Cutond  [Seymour 

ting?]. 
Amos  Smith. 
Bildad  Clark. 
John  Root. 
Isaac  Isaacs. 
Ebenezer  Wheedon. 
Joel  Blinn. 
John  Treet. 
Daniel  Weller. 
Peter  Messenger.. 
Jason  Warren. 
Thomas  Gates. 
Ichabod  Hamblin. 
Abram  Lambden. 
Abram  Northup. 
Benjamin  Stephens. 
Elines  [Linus]  Parker. 
Ashel  [Asahel]  Landers. 
William  Hostetter. 
Daniel  Keiler. 


Cut- 


Daniel  Osborn. 

Truman  Dibble. 

Amos  Root,  jun. 

Jehiel  Wright. 

Seth  Jones  [Janes]. 

Daniel  Brown. 

Josiah  Ward. 

Nathaniel  Davis. 

John  Noble. 

John  Wright. 

James  Rathbun. 

Ebenezer  Austin. 

Hoseah  Merrells  [Hosea  Merrill]. 

Simeon  Barber. 

Jacob  Barber. 

Enos  Henman. 

John  Fairfield. 

David  Martin. 

Jonathan  Fuller. 

Joseph  Chapin. 

James  Barber. 


Time  of  service,  eight  days.     Miles  travelled,  forty-five. 
[This  company  appears  to  have  been  made  up  in  Pittsfield  and  Lenox.] 

STATEMENT  OF  MILITARY  SERVICE. 

1775  — Dec.  1779. 
To  the  Hon'ble  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court 

assembled. 

The  Petition  of  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield  in  the  county  of 
Berkshire  Most  Humbly  showeth : 

That  the  Town  of  Pittsfield  have,  ever  since  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  distinguished  themselves  in  their  readiness  to  assist  in  the  common  cause 
and,  that  they  might  come  at  some  certainty  of  what  proportion  of  service 
they  have  done  the  State  and  Continent,  have  overlooked  their  papers  (which 
they  are  ready  to  produce),  and  find  that  their  services  are  equal  to  one  man 


APPENDIX. 


485 


250  years,  not  to  mention  their  situation,  which  has  called  them  from  home 
when  their  corn  and  grass  were  suffering,  and  deprived  of  opportunity  of  fix- 
ing their  ground  for  seed ;  to  which  might  be  added  the  great  supply  of  horses, 
teams,  and  carriages  that  we  have  been  obliged  to  furnish,  and  the  time  ex- 
pended by  the  Committees  and  Selectmen,  that  amount  to  hundreds,  for 
which  they  have  received  no  consideration. 

The  aforegoing,  your  petitioners  humbly  conceive  are  sufficient  reasons 
for  this  Hon'ble  Court  to  consider  them  in  the  present  demand  made  for  the 
supply  of  the  Continental  Army. 

Which  is  humbly  submitted  to  your  Honors'  wise,  important,  and  just  de- 
termination. 

And  as  in  duty  bound  shall  ever  pray, 

WM.  WILLIAMS. 
ELI  ROOT. 

LEBBEUS  BACKUS. 
PITTSFIEI.D,  Dec.  27, 1779. 


The  following  is  an  account  of  the  demands  for  men  on  the  Town  of 
Pittsfield  since  the  commencement  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain :  — 

April  22,  1775,  Capt.  David  Noble,  Lieut.  Tim'y  Guilds,  Lieut.  Josiah 
Wright,  who  marched  to  Cambridge,  and  served  six  months  with  the  following 
men  under  their  command,  viz. :  — 


Thomas  Miller. 
Oswald  Williams. 
Aaron  Stiles. 
Ebenezer  Wright. 
David  Noble,  jun. 
James  Easton,  jun. 
Joel  Dickinson. 
Jabez  Chaucer.  [?] 
Charles  Belding. 
Phinehas  Gilbert. 
John  King. 
Warham  Strong. 
Benjamin  Deming. 
Azariah  Egleston. 
Timothy  Stearns. 
Elijah  Crane. 
Jonathan  Bill. 
Hugh  Berry. 
Zebediah  Stiles,  jun. 
Richard  O  shorn. 
Moses  Stiles. 


Thomas  Hudson. 
Aaron  Miller,  jun. 
George  Butler. 
Joseph  Moore. 
Samuel  Straton. 
Moses  Noble. 
Joseph  Colton. 
Solomon  Lothrop. 
Nathaniel  Porter. 
Hugh  Mitchell. 
John  Gardner. 
Jonathan  Stoddard. 
Solomon  Martin. 
Jonathan  Blakely. 
Joseph  Easton. 
Abraham  Frost. 
Benjamin  Austin. 
Caleb  Goodrich. 
John  Corbin. 
John  Wait. 
Joshua  Done  [Doane]. 


486 


HISTORY  OP  PITTSFIELD. 


Richard  Baxter.  David  Beckwith. 

"William  Cady.  John  Tupper. 

Moses  Goodrich. 
Fifty-one  men,  twenty-six  weeks;  twenty-five  and  a  half  years  of  one  man. 

May  10,  1775,  Capt.  James  Noble,  Lieut.  Joel  Dickinson,  Lieut.  John 
Hitchcock,  who  engaged  in  Col.  Easton's  Regiment,  and  marched  to  Canada 
with  the  following  men,  and  served  until  Dec.  30th  1775  :  — 


William  Killiard. 
Timo'y  Miller. 
Daniel  Jones. 
John  Noble. 
Mark  Noble. 
Ashbell  Hale, 
Eli  Root,  jun. 
Nath'l  Hale. 
Matthew  Wright. 
John  Brunt. 
James  Brattle. 
Josiah  Moseley. 


Daniel  Oalds. 
Timothy  Baker. 
Daniel  Burt. 
Jacob  Rathbun. 
Moses  Bartlett. 
Wm.  Little. 
Shubael  Dimock. 
Sam'l  Goodree. 
Elizur  Goodrich. 
Col.  James  Easton. 
Maj.  John  Brown. 
Q.  M.  Wm.  C.  Stanley. 


Twenty-seven  men,  thirty-three  weeks  and  four  days  ;  seventeen  years  of 
one  man.  

Aug.  4,  1775,  Capt.  EH  Root,  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot,  and  Lieut.  James 
Easton,  who  engaged  in  Col.  Easton's  Regiment,  and  marched  to  Canada,  and 
were  dismissed  Dec.  30,  1775,  with  the  following  men  under  their  command, 


Joseph  Allen. 
Oliver  Miller. 
Aaron  Stiles. 
Stephen  Phelps. 
Uriel  Tupper. 
Darius  Tupper. 
Israel  Phelps. 
John  Thorpe. 
Wm.  Jones. 
David  Wiley, 
Adon'm  Hinman. 
Twenty-four  men,  twenty-two  weeks  and  two  days  ;  ten  and  a  half  years 

of  one  man.  

• 

Dec.  31,  1775,  Capt.  David  Noble  and  Lieut.  Solomon  Martin,  who 
marched  to  Boston,  from  thence  to  New  York  and  to  Canada,  and  were  dis- 
missed Dec.  31,  1776,  with  the  following  men,  viz. :  — 


Gideon  Goodrich,  jun. 
Joseph  Eldridge. 
Simeon  Tupper. 
Joseph  Easton. 
Gideon  Messenger. 
Aaron  Foot. 
Richard  Osbourn. 
Enoch  Dewey. 
Levi  Miller. 
Asa  Hill. 


Jonathan  Stoddard. 
John  King. 
Moses  Noble. 


Joseph  Colton. 

iV/M  1*1(111  .  .-.-  «-j 


Timothy  Stearns. 


APPENDIX. 


487 


Warham  Strong. 
Thomas  Miller. 
John  W. ,  jun. 


Elisha 

John  Stearns. 


[Some  names  partially  and  some  wholly  obliterated  in  filing.  Margin 
indistinct.]  

Jan.  1  1776,  Capt.  Eli  Hoot,  Lieut.  Joel  Dickinson,  and  Lieut.  Joseph 
Allen,  who  engaged  in  Canada,  and  were  dismissed  May  2,  1776,  with  the 
following  men :  — 


Moses  Bartlett. 
Ashbell  Hale. 
Joseph  Eldridge. 
[Margin  obscure.] 


James  Brattle. 
Gideon  Goodrich,  jun. 
Levi  Miller. 


July  11,   1876,    Capt.  Oliver   Root,  who  marched    to  New  York,   and 
was  dismissed  Dec.  5,  1776,  with  the  following  men  :  — 


Caleb  Stanley. 
Robert  Francis. 
William  Miller. 
Peter  Wright. 
Valentine  Rathbun. 
Luther  Coggswcll. 
Joseph  Stoddard. 
Oliver  Miller. 


Thomas  Taylor. 
Simeon  Tupper. 
John  Thorpe. 
John  Cady. 
Hugh  Mitchell. 
Jacob  Ensign. 
Jonah  Jacobs. 
Aaron  Delano. 


Seventeen  men,  twenty-one  weeks ;  six  years,  forty  weeks,  of  one  man. 


Jan.  23,  1776,  men  who  marched  to  Quebec,  and  were  dismissed  Jan. 
20,  1776:  — 

William  Beard,  Josiah  Moseley,  James  Spear,  Timothy  Stearns. 
[Margin  obscured.]  

Sept.  30,  1776,  Lieut.  William  Barber,  who  marched  to  New  York,  and 
was  dismissed  Nov.  17,  1776,  with  the  following  men  :  — 


Jacob  Gleason. 
Paul  Hutchinson. 
Aaron  Noble. 
Enoch  Baker. 
Elijah  Janes. 
Abel  Branch. 
Daniel  Barber. 
Benjamin  Judd. 


William  Hinman. 
Amos  Root,  jun. 
Ezekiel  Merrill. 
David  Warner. 
Daniel  Olds. 
Phinehas  Bagg. 
Aaron 


Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  Chaplain,  Col.  Simonds's  Regiment. 
Seventeen  men,  seven  weeks  ;  one  man,  two  years  and  fifteen  weeks. 


488 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Oct.  17,  1776,  Capt.  William  Francis,  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot,  who 
marched  to  Ticonderoga,  and  were  dismissed  Nov.  16,  1776,  with  the  fol- 
lowing men  :  — 

Enoch  Marvin.  Joseph  Allen. 

Timothy  Parker.  Daniel  Merrill. 

Ebenezer  Merry.  Gideon  Goodrich. 

Calvin  Coggswell.  Joel  Stevens. 

William  Wright.  Paul  Hubbard. 

Zebediah  Stiles.  Francis  Plummer. 

Elijah  Janes.  James  Noble. 

Joseph  Phelps.  Andrew  Spofford. 
Josiah  Talcott. 

Nineteen  men,  four  weeks  and  two  days  ;  one  year,  twenty-nine  weeks,  of 
one  man.  

April  1,  1776,  Col.  John  Brown,  Capt.  Joel  Dickinson,  and  one  more, 
who  went  to  German  Flats,  and  were  dismissed  May  16,  1777. 

Three  men,  thirteen  mouths,  eighteen  days ;  three  years,  twenty-one  weeks, 
of  one  man. 


Jan.  14,  1776,  Capt.  William  Francis,  who  marched  to  Albany  by  order 
of  Gen.  Schuyler,  and  was  dismissed  Jan.  19,  1776  :  — 


William  Barber. 
William  Ford. 
Caleb  Goodrich. 
Aaron  Noble. 
Jedidiah  Goodrich. 
Amos  Delano. 
Luke  Noble. 
Ezra  Stearns. 
Timothy  Miller. 
Oliver  Burt. 
Zebediah  Stiles. 
Josiah  Wright. 
Francis  Plummer. 
Benjamin  Judd. 
Zuriel  Tupper. 
Thirty  men,  five  days  ;  twenty-two  weeks  of  one  man. 


Gideon  Goodrich. 
Oswald  Williams. 
John  Thorpe. 
Hugh  Berry. 
David  Bagg. 
Jacob  Gleason. 
Phinehas  Bagg. 
James  Colt. 
Paul  Hubbard. 
James  Hubbard. 
Enoch  Haskins. 
Aaron  Miller. 
Thomas  Taylor. 
William  Fenn. 


Sept.  13,  1776,  Capt.  William  Francis,  and  Lieut  William  Ford,  who 
went  to  Williamstown  by  order  of  the  general,  and  were  dismissed  Sept.  21, 
1 776,  with  the  following  men :  — 

Aaron  Noble.  I  Martin  Bagg. 

Josiah  Talcott.  James  Taylor. 


APPENDIX. 


489 


Timothy  Cadwell. 
Daniel  Rathbun. 
Enoch  Baker. 
Joel  Stevens. 
Nathaniel  Davis. 
Daniel  Loomis. 
Elijah  Janes. 


James  Cahoon. 
Enoch  Marvin. 
Calvin  Coe. 
Francis  Plummer. 
Paul  Hutchinson. 
Joshua  Gates. 
Jacob  Gleason. 


Twenty-one  men,  eight  days ;  twenty-four  weeks  of  one  man. 


Dec.  16,  1776,  Lieut.  James  Hubbard,  who  marched  to  Ticonderoga, 
and  was  dismissed  March  16,  1777,  with  the  following  men :  — 
Joseph  Fairfield.  Ezekiel  Root. 

Jonathan  Weston. 
Levi  Belding. 
Daniel  Weller. 
Jonathan  Hobby. 
Gideon  Gunn. 
John  Fairfield. 


Wm.  Little. 
Israel  Stoddard. 


Dan  Cadwell. 
Charles  Goodrich. 
Elijah  Ensign. 
Benjamin  Kieler. 
John  Horsford. 
Ephraim  Stiles. 
Thomas  Kellogg. 
John  Wait. 


Nineteen  men,  thirteen  weeks ;  one  man,  four  years,  three  weeks. 

April  25,   1777,  Lieut.    Stephen  Crofoot,  who  marched  to  Ticonderoga, 
ahd  was  dismissed  May  22,  1777,  with  the  following  men  :  — 

William  Brattle.  Jacob  Ward. 

Uriah  Judd.  Ezra  Kieler. 

Roswell  Root.  Luke  Noble. 

Moses  Yale.  Daniel  Jones. 

Nehemiah  Tracy.  Daniel  Bagg. 

Lebbeus  Backus.  Thomas  Keller. 
Timothy  Miller. 
Fourteen  men,  four  weeks ;  one  year  and  four  weeks  of  one  man. 


May  4,  1777,  Capt.  John  Strong  and  Lieut.  James  Hubbard,  who  went 
to  Kinderhook  after  inimical  persons,  and  were  dismissed  May  11,  1777, 
with  the  following  men :  — 

Peter  Sullard.  Josiah  Talcott. 


Reuben  Rathbun. 
Samuel  Merry. 
Aaron  Stiles. 
Asahel  Stiles. 
Benjamin  Judd. 
William  Miller. 
Caleb  Goodrich. 


James  Noble. 
Ezra  Stearns. 
Caleb  Wadhams. 
Eli  Root. 
Oliver  Root. 
Ezekiel  Root. 
Dan  Cadwell. 


490 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Nathaniel  Fairfield. 
Titus  Wright. 
Abijah  Hinman. 
Enoch  Haskins. 
Timothy  Miller. 
Darius  Tupper. 
Calvin  Coggswell. 


Valentine  Rathbun. 
Paul  Hubbard. 
Ebenezer  Chapman. 
Joseph  Easton. 
Daniel  Weller. 
Daniel  Hubbard. 
Gideon  Goodrich. 


Thirty-two  men,  one  week ;  thirty-two  weeks  of  one  man. 


June  30,  1777,  Capt.  John  Strong  and  Lieut.  Caleb  Goodrich,  who 
marched  to  Fort  Ann,  and  were  dismissed  July  26,  1777,  with  the  following 
men,  viz. :  — 


Aaron  Noble. 
Joseph  Harrison. 
Nathaniel  Fairfield. 
David  Wells. 
Lemuel  Luddington. 
Benjamin  Austin. 
Elijah  Crofoot. 
Daniel  Bates. 
Thomas  Taylor. 
John  Remington. 
Ezra  Stearns 
Ashbell  Hale. 
Benoni  Gleason. 
John  Merry. 
Peter  Hubbard. 
William  Miller. 
Daniel  Merrill. 
Oliver  Miller. 
Amos  Root. 
Adoniram  Hinman. 
Calvin  Easton. 
Paul  Hutchinson. 
Asahel  Stiles. 
William  Cady. 
Erastus  Sackett. 
Henry  Tyler. 

Fifty-four  men,  three  weeks,  ten  days : 
forty-eight  weeks. 


Willard  Vernam. 
Jonathan  Taylor. 
Nathaniel   Davis, 
William  Lamson. 
Elnathan  Phelps. 
William  Beard. 
Peter  Wright. 
Calvin  Coggswell. 
Lemuel  Phelps. 
Joseph  Moore. 
Reuben  Rathbun. 
Abijah  Parks. 
John  Parks. 
Elijah  Lamphier. 
Gideon  Goodrich. 
Nathaniel  Welch. 
Josiah  Wright,  jun. 
John  Branch. 
Jacob  Ensign. 
Joseph  Fairfield. 
Asa  Branch. 
Prince  (Negro). 
Joshua  Narramore. 
Joshua  Simonds. 
Jacob  Goff. 
Joseph  Chamberlain. 

one  man,  three  years,  ten  months, 


July  8,  1777,  Capt.  William  Francis  and  Lieut.  Stephen  Crofoot,  who 
marched  to  Fort  Edward,  and  were  dismissed  Aug.  26, 1777,  with  the  follow- 
ing men,  viz. :  — 


APPENDIX. 


491 


Lebbeus  Backus. 
Joshua  Robbins. 
King  Strong. 
Matthew  Willard. 
Ebenezer  Wright. 
Adoniram  Waterman. 
William  Brattle. 
Caleb  Stanley. 
John  Stearns. 
Uriah  Judd. 
John  Babbitt. 
Ethan  Stone. 
Joseph  Phelps. 
Jacob  Gleason. 
Phinehas  Bagg. 
Solomon  Lothrop. 
Oswald  Williams. 
Joel  Dickinson. 
Thomas  Burt. 
Forty  men,  nine  weeks  ;  one  man, 


Enoch  Baker. 
Joseph  Allen. 
James  Noble,  jun. 
Matthew  Wright. 
Daniel  Hubbard. 
Thomas  Keiler. 
Solomon  Baker. 
James  Colt. 
Roswell  Root. 
Oliver  Root. 
Stephen  Fowler. 
Richard  Osbourn. 
Nathaniel  Hale. 
Moses  Bartlett. 
Enoch  Haskins. 
Timothy  Stearns. 
Daniel  Barber. 
Jacob  Ward. 
Joshua  Done  [Doane]. 
five  years,  twenty  weeks. 


July  10,  1778,   men  who  were  drafted  per  order   General    Court,  went 
to  Albany,  and  were  dismissed  Dec.  1,  1778  :  — 


John  Stearns. 
Timothy  Miller. 
William  Lamson. 


Asa  Narramore. 
Joshua  Simonds. 
Solomon  Baker. 


Six  men,  twenty  weeks ;  one  man,  two  years,  sixteen  weeks. 


July  18,  1777,  Lieut.  James  Hubbard,  who  went  to  Manchester,  and  was 
dismissed  July  28,  1777,  with  the  following  men  :  — 


John  Remington. 
Matthew  Barber. 
John  Doming. 
William  Barber. 
Titus  Wright. 

Ten  men,  one  week,  three  days ;  one  man,  thirteen  weeks. 


David  Bagg. 
Martin  Bagg. 
Timothy  Cad  well. 
Jonathan  Weston. 


Sept.  20,  1777,  Capt.  William  Francis,  who  went  to  Still  water,  and  was 
dismissed  Oct.  10,  1777,  with  the  following  men,  viz. :  — 


Martin  Bagg. 
Josiah  Wright. 
John  Baker. 
Caleb  Stanley. 


Solomon  Lothrop. 
Thomas  Kellogg. 
Stephen  Crofoot. 
Enoch  Marvin. 


492 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Aaron  Noble. 
Gideon  Goodrich. 
James  Easton,  jun. 
John  Stearns. 
Joel  Dickinson. 
Timothy  Childs. 
David  Wells. 
Eli  Root,  jun. 
Ezra  Keiler. 
James  Spears. 
Thirty  men,  one  week  and  four  days ; 


Aaron  Baker. 
Nathaniel  Bobbins. 
Peter  Wright. 
Josiah  Wright,  jun. 
Paul  Hubbard. 
Valentine  Eathbun. 
Ebenezer  Keiler. 
Oswald  Williams. 
Elijah  Janes. 
Samuel  Bonney. 
forty-seven  weeks  of  one  man. 


April  25,  1777,  Lieut.  William  Ford,  who  went  to  Ticonderoga,  and  was 
dismissed  May  25,  with  the  following  men,  viz. :  — 


Joel  Stevens. 
Amos  Delano. 
Joshua  Gates. 


Timothy  Cadwell. 
Samuel  Bonny. 
Jehiel  Wright. 


Seven  men,  four  weeks,  three  days ;  thirty-one  weeks  of  one  man. 


May  19,  1778,  men  who  were  raised  to  re-enforce  the  Continental  army, 
and  were  dismissed  Feb.  19,  1779  :  — 


Ebenezer  liutchinson, 
Davis. 


James  Lewis. 
Patrick  Me  Gee. 
Seven  men,  nine  months ;  one  man,  five  years,  three  months. 


Jonathan  Lee. 
Jonathan  Stoddard. 
Samuel  Bonney. 


June  1,  1778,  men  who  marched  to  headquarters  by  order  of  General 
Court  and  were  dismissed  Feb.  1,  1779  :  — 


Daniel  Bates. 
William  Beard. 
Benoni  Gleason. 


James  Spears. 
Ozias  Wright. 
Oliver  Miller. 


Six  men,  eight  months ;  one  man,  four  years. 


Aug.  16,  1777,  Lieut.  William  Ford,  who  marched  to  Bennington,  and 
was  dismissed  Aug.  23,  with  the  following  men:  — 


James  Easton. 
Rufus  Allen. 
James  Brattle. 
Charles  Goodrich. 
Joseph  Allen. 
John  Corbin. 
James  Noble. 


Gideon  Goodrich. 
Warham  Strong. 
Nathaniel  Hale. 
Francis  Plumer. 
Nathaniel  Porter. 
Thomas  Allen. 
Elizur  Goodrich. 


APPENDIX. 


493 


Timothy  Cadwell. 
Jeffrey  Hazard. 
William  Francis. 
Jehiel  Wrieht. 


Abiather  Willard. 
Simeon  Crofoot. 
Josiah  Wright. 


Twenty-two  men,  one  week ;  twenty-two  weeks  of  one  man. 

Aug.  17,  1777,  Lieut  James  Hubbard,  who  went  to  Bennington,  and  was 
dismissed  Aug.  24,  with  the  following  men :  — 


Oliver  Root. 
Woodbridge  Little. 
Martin  Bagg. 
Joshua  Narramore. 
Jacob  Gleason. 
Aaron  Noble. 
Ezekiel  Root. 
Ephraim  Stiles. 


Israel  Stoddard. 
Aaron  Hickocks. 
Frederick  Stanley. 
Aaron  Stiles. 
Israel  Dickinson. 
James  Taylor. 
John  Strong. 
Abijah  Hinman. 


Seventeen  men,  five  days  ;  twelve  weeks  of  one  man. 


July  8,  1778,  men  who  went  to  Springfield,  and  were  dismissed  Jan.  8, 
1779:  — 


Ebenezer  Merry. 
Noadiah  Deming. 


Amos  Root,  jun. 
Asahel  Stiles. 


Four  men,  six  months ;  two  years  of  one  man. 


July  20,  1779,  Lieut.  Joel  Stevens,  who  marched  to  New  Haven,  and 
was  dismissed  Aug.  25,  1779,  with  the  following  men :  — 


Azariah  Root. 
Ambrose  Booth. 
Thomas  Keiler. 
James  Noble. 
Solomon  Baker. 
-Ashbel  Hale. 
Caleb  Stanley. 

Fifteen  men,  five  weeks,  one  day ;  one  year,  twenty-five  weeks  of  one  man. 


John  Ford. 
William  Drake. 
Ozem  Strong. 
Silas  Stiles. 
William  Phelps. 
Calvin  Easton. 
Reuben  Colton. 


July  16,  1779,  men  who  were  raised  to  re-enforce  the  Continental  army 


for  the  term  of  nine  months,  viz. :  — 

Isaac  Morse. 
John  Wright. 
Daniel  Bates. 
Samuel  Smith. 


David  Johnson. 
Jonathan  Morey. 
Joshua  Chapel. 


Seven  men,  nine  months,  five  years ;  three  months  of  one  man. 


494 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Oct.  26,  1779,  men  raised  to  re-enforce  the  Continental  army,  and  were 


dismissed  Nov.  30,  1779  :  — 
Enoch  Haskins. 
Daniel  Merrill. 
John  Noble. 
Nathan  Robinson. 
Abner  Hathway. 
Phinehas  Bagg. 
Jonathan  Graves. 


Ezekiel  Somers. 
Joseph  Hale. 
Ambrose  Booth. 
Amos  Root,  jun. 
Asa  Woodward. 
John  Hosman. 


Thirteen  men,  five  weeks  ;  one  year,  three  months,  of  one  man. 


Sept.  6,  1777,  Capt.  John  Strong,  who  went  to  Skenesborough,  and  was 
dismissed  Oct.  1,  1777  (every  man  with  a  horse  and  meal-bag),  with  the 
following  men  :  — 


James  Easton. 
Benoni  Gleason. 
John  Brown. 
Ozem  Strong. 
Samuel  Cross. 
Jehiel  Wright. 
Joel  Stevens. 
William  Lam  son. 
Francis  Plumer. 
William  Hinman. 
Thomas  Taylor. 
Samuel  Davis. 
Elijah  Janes. 
William  Cook. 
Ephraim  Stiles. 


Lemuel  Phelps. 
John  Hosford. 
Timothy  Cadwell. 
Jonathan  Hobby. 
Nathaniel  Fairfield. 
David  Bush. 
Adoniram  Waterman. 
Aaron  Drake, 
John  Wait. 
Josiah  Moseley. 
John  Thorpe. 
Joseph  Easton. 
Caleb  Waddams. 
James  Easton,  jun. 
Amos  Root. 


Hezekiah  Jones. 
Three  weeks,  five  days ;  two  years,  thirteen  weeks,  of  one  man. 


APPENDIX. 


495 


A  List  of  Continental  Soldiers  raised  by  the  Town  of  Pittsfield  during  the 
•War,  or  for  Tliree  Years. 


NAME. 

When 

Engaged. 

Term  of 
time 
eng'd  for. 

In  whose 
company. 

I  n  whose 
regiment. 

David  Ingersoll 

May,        1777 

3  years 

Capt.  Watkins 

Col.  Brewer 

Azariah  Eggleston 

May,        1777 

D.  W. 

"     Miller 

'  Vose 

Hugh  Berry 

May,        1777 

3  years 

"    Ashley 

'  Vose 

William  Cady 

Dec.   7,  1776 

3  years 

Lient.  Bailey 

'  Livingston 

Ebeuezer  Stoddard 

Dec.    7,  1776 

D.  W. 

Capt.  Burr. 

'  Bailey 

Israel  Peck 

Dec.    7,  1776 

3  vears 

"     Ward 

'  Weston 

James  Peck 

1776 

D"  W. 

"    Ward 

"  Weston 

John  Tupper 

1776 

D.  W. 

"    Burr 

"  Bailey 

Joseph  Colton 

April,      1777 

D   W. 

"    Belding 

Sheldon's  Lt. 
Dragoons 

Mark  Noble 

Oct.  30,  1776 

3  years 

"    Tucker 

Col.  Vose 

Jeffrey  Hazzard* 

Nov.    4,  1779 

D.  W. 

"    Howard 

"  Bailey 

Joshua  Chappel* 

July,        1779 

D  W. 

Ebenezer  Hutchinson* 

Feb.   19,1779 

D.  W. 

"  Bailey 

Daniel  Beckwith 

April  9,  1777 

3  years 

"    Miller 

"  Vose 

Isaac  Reed 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'     Stoddard 

"  Vose 

Nathan  Dart* 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'    Miller 

"  Vose 

Josiah  Jacobs 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'    Miller 

'  Vose 

Solomon  Lothrop 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'    Miller 

'  Vose 

Joseph  Handy 

April  11,  1777 

3  years 

'    Stoddard 

'  Vose 

Hugh  Mitchell 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'     Miller 

'  Vose 

Samuel  Goodree 

April  9,  1777 

3  years 

'    Ashlev 

'  Vose 

Jonathan  Wright 

April  11,  1777 

3  years 

'     Stoddard 

'  Vose 

David  Goff  (Luff) 

April  4,  1777 

3  years 

'     Miller 

'  Vose 

John  Cady 

April  9,  1777 

D"  W. 

'     Miller 

'  Vose 

James  Spear* 

April  9,  1777 

3  years 

'     Burr 

'  Vose 

John  North 

April  11,  1777 

D.  W. 

'     Ashley 

'  Vose 

John  Dennis 

April  10,  1777 

3  years 

"    Burr  " 

'  Vose 

Daniel  Rust* 

April  4,  1777 

D.  W. 

"    Miller 

'  Vose 

Lemuel  Rowley 

April  5,  1777 

3  years 

"     Ashley 

'  Vose 

Thomas  Jenks 

April  7,  1777 

3  years 

"     Ashley 

'  Vose 

Charles  Stuart 

April    7,1777 

3  years 

"     Ashley 

'  Vose 

Ichabod  Pliscock 

May    5,  1777 

3  -years 

"     Warren 

'  Weston 

Reuben  Milbourn 

April  9,  1777 

D.  W. 

'     Ashley 

'  Vose 

Benjamin  Dimock 

May  15,  1777 

3  years 

'    Miller 

'  Vose 

Jonathan  Briton 

Jan.   10,  1778 

D.  W. 

'    Miller 

"  Vose 

Moses  Stiles 

D.  W. 

'     McKain 

"  Van  Schaack 

William  Collins 

3  years 

'     Stoddard 

"  Vose 

Samuel  Prindle* 

3  years 

"     Stoddard 

"  Vose 

Simeon  Tupper* 

April  4,  1777 

D.  W. 

"     Burr 

"  Bailey 

Attest : 

WM.  WILLIAMS, 
ELI  ROOT, 
STEPHEN  CHOFOOT, 


i  ELI  ROOT, 

\  Selectmen.          STEPHEN  CROFOOT, 

)  WM.  FRANCIS, 

JOHN  STRONG,  Capt. 
STEPHEN  CROFOOT,  Lieut. 
WM.  FORD,  Capt. 
WM.  FRANCIS,  Capt. 


Committee. 


496  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

N.  B.  — Nathan  Dart  was  a  Hancock  man,  enlisted  for  Pittsfielcl,  and  so 
certified.  Jeffrey  Hazzard,  "  mulatto  fellow,"  enlisted  out  of  Col.  Chapin's 
regiment  of  levies ;  but  he  had  fought  in  the  Pittsield  company  at  Benning- 
ton. 

Lemuel  Halleck,  chairman  of  the  committee  at  Boston,  certified  to  the 
enlistment  of  all  the  above  list,  except  those  whose  names  are  starred,  and 
to  the  following  names  not  in  the  Selectmen's  list:  John  Wood,  Josiah 
Reed,  Peter  Dago,  Aaron  Hiscocks,  George  Atkins,  Robert  Milbourn. 

The  following  additional  names  appear  in  the  Continental  rolls,  in  the  State 
Archives,  1779:  Isaac  Moss  (Morse?),  John  Wright,  Jonathan  Morey, 
Anthony  Oliver,  Thomas  Tupper. 


CLASSES   AND  BOUNTIES. 

PITTSFIELD,  April  20, 1781. 

WE,  the  subscribers,  selectmen  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  do  hereby  certify 
and  inform  all  persons  whom  it  may  concern,  That,  in  pursuance  of  a 
resolve  of  the  General  Court  of  the  2d  of  December  last,  the  town  of  Pitts- 
field,  by  their  committees  appointed  for  that  purpose,  divided  the  ratable 
polls  and  estate  of  said  town  into  as  many  classes  as  there  were  men  re- 
quired to  be  procured  by  said  town ;  to  wit,  sixteen.  And  that  fifteen  of 
said  classes  did  hire  and  procure  the  several  men  hereinafter  named,  and 
gave  to  them,  as  a  bounty,  the  several  sums  annexed  to  their  names,  as  appears 
by  the  receipts  herewith  trasmitted  :  — 


John  White,  £50 
Joseph  Sharp,                         .       50 

Edward  Davis,  50 

Anoblos  Moore,  50 

Ambrose  Booth,  50 

William  Cady,  55 

Jabez  Albro,  50 


Simeon  Tupper,  jun.,  £60 

Henry  Smith,  55 

Eliphalet  Cobb,  60 

Simeon  Tupper,  60 

David  Taylor,  55 

Allen  Davis,  50 

Jehiel  Stearns,  55 


Nathan  French,  55  7 

Amounting,  in  the  whole,  to  the  sum  of  £830.  7s. 

And  the  said  selectmen  do  further  inform,  that,  although  a  number  of  re- 
ceipts bear  a  later  date,  yet,  to  the  best  of  their  belief,  the  several  persons 
above  named  (except  one)  were  procured  and  mustered  before  the  20th  day 
of  January  last,  as  will  appear  by  the  certificate  of  the  muster-master ;  but 
some  of  the  classes  did  not  complete  the  payment  and  obtain  receipts 
until  afterwards. 

And,  as  to  one  class  in  town,  the  subscribers  would  further  inform,  that  the 
several  members  or  individuals  of  said  class  did  pay  to  the  head  of  the  class, 
to  his  full  satisfaction,  their  respective  sums  and  proportions  sullicient  to 
procure  a  man  ;  and  that,  in  consideration  thereof,  he  did  undertake  to  hire 


APPENDIX. 


497 


a  man,  and  indemnify  said  class,  but  by  some  means  hath  neglected  and 
failed  to  do  so. 

LEBBEUS  BACKUS, 

JOSHUA  BOBBINS, 

WM.  BARBER, 

JOHN  STRONG,  ^    Selectmen. 

OLIVER  ROOT, 

RUFUS  ALLEN, 

WOODBRIDGE   LlTTLE, 

Sworn  to  before  Jonathan  Lee,  Town  Clerk. 


,\ 


B. 


CENSUS  OF  PITTSFIELD  IN  1772. 
[Number  of  families  and  persons  in  Pittsfield,  Nov.  1, 1772.] 


James  Easton, 

15 

Ezra  Keiler, 

Thomas  Allen, 

8 

Seth  Keiler, 

John  Strong, 

7 

Benj.  Keiler, 

Stephen  Crowfoot, 

9 

Phineas  Belding, 

Simeon  Crowfoot, 

8 

Dan  Cadwell, 

Jacob  Ensign, 

8 

Stephen  Phelps, 

Aaron  Miller, 

Goodrich, 

Joseph  Fairfield, 

Jedidiah  Goodrich, 

Woodbridge  Little, 

4 

David  Bagg, 

Israel  Dickinson, 

8 

Thomas  Morgan, 

Israel  Stoddard, 

8 

Timothy  Cadwell, 

Moses  Graves, 

Martin  Bagg, 

Birchard, 

King  Strong, 

Aaron  Noble, 

Charles  Goodrich, 

•»T              • 

William  Williams, 

12 

Joseph  Clark, 

"Wm.  Brattle, 

9 

Aaron  Baker, 

Gideon  Gunn, 

7 

Valentine  Rathbun, 

Solomon  Crosby, 

9 

Branch, 

Solomon  Deming, 

5 

Branch, 

Josiah  Moseley 

3 

Branch, 

Erastus  Sackett, 

8 

Oliver  Burt, 

William  Barber, 

3 

Morey, 

Matthew  Barber, 

7 

Thomas  North, 

Keiler, 

Zebediah  Stiles, 

3 
3 
6 
9 
9 
2 
4 
2 
8 
4 
7 
3 
4 
5 
4 
3 

15 
8 
9 
5 
6 
7 
7 
7 

11 


32 


498 


HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 


Caleb  Goodrich, 
Ephraim  Stiles, 
Charles  Miller, 
Stephen  Fowler, 
John  Corban, 
Wm.  Ford, 

Gleason, 

Amos  Root, 
Josiah  Wright, 
Joshua  Robbins, 
Daniel  Hubbard,  jun., 
Ebenezer  Hutchinson, 
Daniel  Hubbard, 
James  Hubbard, 
David  Noble, 
Widow  Noble, 

Johnson, . 

William  Francis, 

Parker, 

Ebenezer  White, 
Hezekiah  Jones, 
Hezekiah  Jones,  jun., 

Larribee, 

Benjamin  Kilbourn, 

Hobby, 

Lebbeus  Backus, 
Nathaniel  Fairfield, 
Eli  Root, 

Nathanael  Phelps, 
David  Bush, 
Ezekiel  Root, 
Daniel  Weller, 
Uriah  Judd, 
Elisha  Jones, 

Hale, 

Aaron  Stiles, 
Jonathan  Blaxley, 

Hopkins, 

Joseph  Allen, 
Daniel  Alexander, 

Talcut, 

Talcut, 

Joseph  Wright, 
Widow  Wright, 


9 

James  Colt, 

5 

Jonathan  Kingsley, 

5 

9 

Joshua  Narramore, 

6 

3 

John  Narramore, 

5 

Elnathan  Phelps, 

7 

6 

Wm.  Phelps, 

10 

Lemuel  Phelps, 

8 

Hopkins, 

11 

1 

Hollister, 

10 

Jos.  More, 

8 

Jacob  Ellithorp, 

5 

3 

Oswald  Williams, 

3 

James  Noble, 

6 

Gideon  Goodrich, 

John  Baker, 

20 

John  Remington, 

2 

John  Remington,  jun., 

9 

Hopkins, 

2 

Ezra  Strong, 

8 

6 

Capt.  North, 

2 

3 

6 

Loomis, 

6 

8 

Turner, 

4 

Oliver  Root, 

7 

7 

Amos  Delano, 

3 

6 

Wm.  Wright, 

7 

10 

Ebenezer  Wright, 

2 

7 

Solomon  Lathrop, 

3 

6 

David  Ashley, 

8 

John  Clark, 

11 

O  —  n-n-t- 

4 

Davis, 

7 

Zadock  Hubbard, 

2 

John  Demming, 

4 

Cogswell, 

7 

Janes. 

4 

Paul  Guilford, 

7 

7 

Hicok, 

7 

Plummer, 

2 

8 

Squire, 

2 

Joseph  Chamberlain, 

Doane, 

2 

Uriah  Judd, 

2 

Austin, 

3 

Number  of  families, 

138 

APPENDIX.  499 

N.  B.  —  The  census  here  given  is  a  transcript  from  the  records  of  the  First 
Church.  In  some  cases,  blanks  were  left  in  the  original,  and  in  others  the 
record  is  obliterated. 


F. 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON. 

BY  THE  BEV.   THOMAS  ALLEN. 

[Mr.  Allen,  writing  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  in  the  following  account,  gives  the  story 
of  the  Bennington  fight  according  to  his  own  observation,  and  the  information  which 
could  be  hastily  collected  at  the  time.] 

From  the  Connecticut  Courant,  Aug.  25,  1777. 

[The  following  particulars  of  the  action  between  the  militia,  &c.,  and  a 
part  of  the  British  army,  on  the  16th  inst.,  near  Bennington,  have  been 
transmitted  to  us  by  a  letter  of  the  16th  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  of  Pitts- 
field,  who  was  present  at  the  action.]  —  ED. 

Saturday, 'Aug.  16,  was  a  memorable  day  on  account  of  a  signal  victory 
which  the  militia,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Stark,  obtained  over  a  body 
of  the  king's  troops  commanded  by  Gov.  Skeene,  some  account  of  which  is 
here  given  by  one  who  was  himself  in  the  action.  It  seems  that  Gen,  Bur- 
goyne  had  detached  this  corps,  consisting  of  about  fifteen  hundred  men, 
chiefly  Waldeckers  and  Brunswickers,  intermixed  with  some  British  troops 
and  Tories,  —  a  niedly  compound, — to  penetrate  as  far  as  Bennington,  and 
farther  if  it  should  be  found  practicable,  with  a  view  to  increase  the  number 
of  his  friends,  to  disperse  his  "  protections "  in  the  country,  to  procure 
for  his  army  provisions,  and  to  wreak  his  wrath  and  vengeance  on  those  who 
had  disregarded  his  calls  of  mercy,  and  slighted  with  indignity  his  prof- 
fered protection.  Gov.  Skeene  had  advantageously  posted  this  corps  within 
about  five  miles  of  Bennington  Meeting-house,  where,  in  different  places,  they 
made  breastworks  for  their  own  security.  This  digression  was  of  such  ill 
tendency,  and  savored  so  much  of  presumption,  that  Gen.  Stark,  who  was  at 
that  time  providentially  at  Bennington,  with  his  brigade  of  militia  from  New- 
Hampshire  State,  determined  to  give  him  battle.  Col.  Simonds's  regiment 
of  militia  in  Berkshire  County  was  invited  to  his  assistance ;  and  a  part  of 
Col.  Brown's  arrived  seasonably  to  attend  on  the  action ;  and  some  volun- 
teers from  different  towns ;  and  Col.  Warner,  with  a  part  of  his  own  regi- 
ment, joined  him  the  same  day.  The  general,  it  seem,",  wisely  laid  his  plan 


500  HISTORY   OF  PITTSFIELD. 

of  operation ;  and,  Divine  Providence  blessing  us  with  good  weather,  be- 
tween three  and  four  o'clock,  P.M.,  he  attacked  them  in  front  and  flank,  in 
three  or  four  different  places  at  the  same  instant,  with  irresistible  impetu- 
osity. 

The  action  was  extremely  hot  for  between  one  and  two  hours.  The 
flanking  divisions  had  carried  their  points  with  great  success,  when  the  front 
pressed  on  to  their  breastworks  with  an  ardor  and  patience  beyond  expecta- 
tion. The  blaze  of  the  guns  of  the  contending  parties  reached  each  other. 
The  fire  was  so  extremely  hot,  —  and  our  men  easily  surmounting  their 
breastworks,  amid  peals  of  thunder  and  flashes  of  lightning  from  their  guns, 
without  regarding  the  roar  of  their  field-pieces,  —  that  the  enemy  at  once 
deserted  their  cover,  and  ran ;  and  in  about  five  minutes  their  whole  camp 
was  in  the  utmost  confusion  and  disorder.  All  their  battalions  were  broken  in 
pieces,  and  fled  most  precipitately ;  at  which  instant  our  whole  army  pressed 
after  with  redoubled  ardor,  pursued  them  for  a  mile,  made  considerable 
slaughter  among  them,  and  made  many  prisoners.  One  field-piece  had 
already  fallen  into  our  hands.  At  this  point,  our  men  stopped  the  pursuit  to 
gain  breath,  when  the  enemy,  being  re-enforced,  our  front  fell  back  a  few 
rods  for  convenience  of  ground,  and  being  directed  and  collected  by  Col. 
Rossiter,  and  re-enforced  by  Major  Stratton,  renewed  the  fight  with  re- 
doubled ardor,  and  fell  in  upon  them  with  great  impetuosity,  put  them  to 
confusion  and  flight,  and  pursued  them  about  a  mile,  making  many  prison- 
ers. Two  or  three  more  brass  field-pieces  fell  into  our  hands,  and  are 
supposed  to  be  the  whole  of  what  they  brought  with  them.  At  this  time,  dark- 
ness came  upon  us,  and  prevented  our  swallowing  up  the  whole  of  this  body. 
The  enemy  fled  precipitately  the  succeeding  night  towards  the  North  River ; 
and,  unless  they  should  be  met  with  by  a  party  of  our  army,  may  have 
reached  there  without  further  molestation.  Gov.  Skeene,  in  surprise  and 
consternation,  took  horse  and  fled.  This  action,  which  redounds  so  much  to 
the  glory  of  the  great  Lord  of  the  heavens  and  God  of  armies,  affords  the 
Americans  a  lasting  monument  of  the  divine  power  and  goodness,  and  a 
most  powerful  argument  of  love  to  and  trust  in  God. 

Our  loss  is  about  forty  or  fifty  killed,  and  more  wounded.  Their  baggage 
fell  into  our  hands.  The  number  of  prisoners  taken  is  said  to  be  about  six 
hundred.  Two  of  their  colonels  were  among  the  prisoners,  and  mortally 
wounded.  A  number  of  their  inferior  officers  have  also  fallen  into  our  hands, 
and  in  particular  the  general's  aide-de-camp.  A  good  number  deserted,  and 
joined  us.  This  victory  is  thought  by  some  to  equal  any  that  has  happened 
during  the  present  controversy,  and,  as  long  as  prudence,  moderation,  so- 
briety, and  valor  are  of  any  estimation  among  these  United  States,  will  not 
fail  to  endear  Gen.  Stark  to  them.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  that,  if  a  large 
body  of  militia  was  now  called  to  act  in  conjunction  with  our  northern  army, 
the  enemy  might  be  entirely  overthrown.  May  all  be  concerned  to  give 
God  the  glory,  whilst  we  commend  the  good  conduct  of  the  officers  and  sol- 


APPENDIX.  501 

diers  in  general  on  so  important  an  occasion !     The  best  account  of  the 
number  of  prisoners  taken  in  the  above  action  is  as  follows  :  — 


2  Colonels, 

1  Lieutenant-colonel, 
12  Lieutenants, 

4  Ensigns, 

2  Canadian  officers, 
3  7  British    7      •  ateg 

398  German  ;pn 

175  Tories, 

680  besides,  wounded, 


1  Major, 

5  Captains, 

1  Judge  advocate, 

1  Baron, 

3  Surgeons, 

2  Brass  4-pounders, 
2     "       3-pounders, 

1  Medicine  wagon,  and  a  quantity 
of  baggage. 


From  Mr.  Allen's  Pocket  Diary. 

[The  allusions  to  the  Battle  of  Benuingtoa  in  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  diary  are  brief,  but 
suggestive,  and  read  as  follows] :  — 

"  Aug.  16.  —  A  memorable  battle  fought  by  the  militia  near  Bennington. 
One  thousand  of  the  enemy  killed,  wounded,  and  taken  prisoners. 
•"  Expended  on  my  tour  to  Bennington,  seven  shillings  and  sixpence. 

"  Expended  for  ammunition,  nine  shillings  and  sixpence. 

"Aug.  21.  —  Received  for  horse-keeping  and  victualling  [probably  of 
soldiers  and  prisoners],  two  pounds,  seventeen  shillings,  and  sixpence. 

"  Received  for  use  of  my  cart,  and  damage  by  prisoners,  one  pound,  one 
shilling. 

"  Aug.  29.  —  Received  for  victuals  for  seventeen  men,  thirteen  shillings 
and  sixpence."  

Rev.  Dr.  Field  relates  the  following  anecdote  of  Mr.  Allen :  — 
"  Once,  when  asked  whether  he  actually  killed  any  man  at  Bennington, 
he  replied  that  he  did  not  know  ;  but  that,  observing  a  flash  often  repeated 
from  a  certain  bush,  and  that  it  was  generally  followed  by  the  fall  of  one  of 
Stark's  men,  he  fired  that  way,  and  put  the  flash  out." 


G. 
PLAN  OF  PITTSFIELD  IN  1794. 

TRANSCRIBED  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  IN  THE  MASS.  STATE  ARCHIVES. 

A  Plan  of  the  Town  of  Pittifield,  in  the   County  of  Berkshire,  taken  in  Obedience  to  a 
Resolve  of  the  General  Court,  passed  June  26,  A.D.  1794. 

The  south  line  of  this  town  is  2,111  rods  in  length ;  the  east  line  is  1,897 
rods  long ;  the  north  line  in  the  whole  is  2,048  rods  ;  and  the  whole  of  the 
west  line  1,892  rods  in  length.  This  town  was  intended  to  be,  and  perhaps 


502 


HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 


is,  in  a  square  form.  The  very  steep  mountain  [Honwee],  near  the  north- 
west corner,  may  make  a  difference  in  measuring  the  lines.  The  original 
plans  gf  the  town,  one  of  which  we  had,  taken  thirty-four  years  ago,  set  forth 
the  town  as  square,  and  the  points  from  the  south-west  corner,  as  running  cast 
19  degrees  south;  but  in  running  the  same  line  at  this  period,  and  setting 
the  compass  so  as  to  strike  the  north-west  corner  of  the  town  of  Lenox, 
which  is  in  the  south-west  line  of  Pittsfield,  and  684  rods  from  our  south- 


H.E.  MEAD  DEL 


west  corner,  the  line  was  found  to  run  east  sixteen  degrees  and  fifteen  min- 
utes south.  The  lines  at  each  corner  are  at  right  angles,  and  the  ancient 
boundaries  and  marked  trees  are  yet  remaining. 

Pittsfield  by  estimation,  on  the  route  through  Northampton,  is  140  miles 
from  Boston.  Its  meeting-house  is  six  miles  and  a  half  from  Lenox  Court 
House.  The  Ousatonac  River,  at  its  entrance  on  the  east  side  of  said  town, 
is  six  rods  wide  ;  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  to  w%  where  it  crosses  the  line, 
it  is  eight  rods  wide. 

There  are  five  ponds  which  lie  wholly  in  Pittsfield,  and  two  others,  part 
of  one  of  which  is  in  Lanesborough,  and  the  other  in  Richmond,  which 
we  estimate  as  follows,  to  wit  :  — 

Goodrich  Pond,  50  acres  ;  Ensign's  Pond,  40  acres  ;  Van  Schaack's  Pond, 
40  acres;  Rathbun's  Pond,  45  acres;  West  Pond,  520  acres  ;  North  Pond, 
300  acres  ;  South  Pond,  80  acres. 

We  know  of  no  mines,  or  minerals,  in  this  town.  The  ore  used  here  is 
brought  from  Richmond,  &c.  This  survey  was  taken  in  the  months  of  No- 


APPENDIX.  503 

vember  and  December,  A.D.  1 794.  The  dotted  lines  represent  the  county 
roads ;  the  green  lines,  the  streams  and  rivers,  over  which  are  bridges,  where 
roads  cross  them.  The  bridges  over  the  Ousatonac  River  are  five  in  num- 
ber. Dalton,  S.  W.  corner.  Washington,  N.  W.  corner. 

JOHN  C.  WILLIAMS,     ") 

OLIVER  ROOT, 

SIMON  LARNED,  \-   Committee. 

NATHANIEL  ROBBINS, 

ELI  ROOT, 
DEC.  8,  1794. 

N.  B.  —  The  committee  do  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  the  sixty-eight 
rods  allowed  in  addition  to  the  original  town  boundaries. 


H. 

WHILE  this  work  has  been  passing  through  the  press,  a  few  facts  have 
come  to  our  knowledge,  which  are  worthy  of  record. 

Dr.  Charles  S.  Goodrich  of  «New  York  furnishes  us  with  the  following 
traditions  regarding  his  grandfather,  Capt.  Charles  Goodrich. 

East  Street  was  opened  under  his  direction  ;  and  four  or  five  fine  elm-trees 
were  left  standing  where  Park  Square  now  is,  among  them  The  Great  Elm. 
Dr.  Goodrich  often  heard  his  grandfather  say  that  one  of  his  axe-men 
struck  two  blows  into  the  tree,  with  the  intention  of  felling  it ;  but  Capt. 
Goodrich,  admiring  its  beauty,  —  it  was  then  tall,  straight,  and  limbless,  to  the 
height  of  some  fifty  feet, —  ordered  his  axe-men  to  "  spare  that  tree,"  which 
they  did,  with  three  or  four  others  near  it.  The  Elm  was  then  about  a 
foot  in  diameter. 

Dr.  Goodrich  states  that  his  grandfather  owned  six  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  Pittsfield  and  the  neighboring  towns ;  among  which  was  the  farm  upon 
which  the  popular  mineral  springs  of  New  Lebanon,  N.Y.,  were  afterwards 
found. 

Once,  when  eighty  years  old,  Capt.  Goodrich  rode  a  Narragansett  pony 
from  Pittsfield,  Vermont  —  which  was  named  by  him,  and  where  his  son 
lived, —  to  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  four  miles ; 
starting  after  sunrise,  and  sleeping  at  home  the  same  night. 

Capt.  Goodrich  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  leaving  two  sons,  —  Rev. 
Charles  Goodrich,  who  is  now  living,  at  the  age  of  ninety ;  and  James  G., 
who  is  now  eighty-nine  years  old,  —  and  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Lucy  G.  Pratt, 
who  died  three  years  since,  at  the  age  of  ninety. 


504  HISTORY  OF  PITTSFIELD. 

The  last  deer  known  in  Pittsfield  were  slaughtered  in  the  winter  of  1 780, 
when  the  snow  was  so  deep  that  it  was  possible  for  the  hunters  to  kill  them, 
•without  the  possibility  of  their  escape,  in  the  yards  which  they  had  beaten 
out  for  themselves  among  the  snow-drifts.  The  demand  for  buckskins  for 
the  manufacture  of  breeches  for  the  military  was  then  urgent,  and  the  hun- 
ters were  diligent  to  supply  it. 

The  initials  I.  M.  "W.,  on  the  Plan  of  Pittsfield  in  1759,  refer  to  JohnMico 
Wendell,  son  of  Col.  Jacob,  who  married  Catherine  Brattle,  a  descendant  of 
Thomas  Brattle,  the  founder  of  the  Brattle  family  of  Massachusetts,  a  branch 
of  which  was  thus  introduced  into  Pittsfield,  where  some  of  its  members 
still  reside.  John  Mico  Wendell  and  his  wife  were  both  descendants  of 
Governors  Bradstreet  and  Dudley. 

Of  Col.  Israel  Williams's  nine  children,  four  settled  in  Pittsfield  and  vi- 
cinity :  Deacon  William  Williams,  who  was  one  of  the  first  trustees  of 
Williams  College,  and  who  should  be  distinguished  from  Col.  William 
Williams  of  Pittsfield ;  Sarah,  who  married  Dr.  Marsh  of  Dalton ;  Eunice, 
who  married  Major  Israel  Stoddard  of  Pittsfield ;  and  Lucretia,  who  married 
John  Chandler  Williams.  Of  Dr.  Marsh's  daughters,  Sarah  married  Israel 
Peck ;  Martha  married  Thomas  Gold ;  Eunice,  Darius  Lamed ;  Lucretia, 
William  Millen ;  Elizabeth,  Jonathan  Allen ;  and  Sophia,  Fordyce  Merrick, 

—  all  of  Pittsfield. 

• 


INDEX. 


A. 

Allen,  Rev.  Thomas,  foretells  the  manufac- 
turing prosperity  of  Pittsfleld,  33;  gift  of, 
to  schools,  136;  138, 139, 158, 160, 163, 165, 
166, 167,  163,  177,  183,  190,  193,  209,  215, 
222,  252,  279,  280,  281;  speech  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  284:  service  at  Bennington,  297, 
324 ;  views  of  the  Massachusetts  Charters, 
330;  political  opinions  of,  336,  341,364,  365, 
367,  369,  399,  409,  418,  453;  diary  of,  470; 
loans  to  the  Continent,  471. 

Association,  Continental,  resolutions  of, 
adopted  by  Pittsfleld,  202. 

Allen,  Rev.  William,  D.D.,  19,  160. 

Allen,  Joseph,  258,  295,  299. 

Allen,  Ethan,  213,  226,  227,  232,  233.  — See 
John  Brown. 

Allen,  Thomas,  90,  427. 

Allen,  John,  504. 

Allen,  Samuel  A.,  31. 

Allen,  Solomon,  403. 

Allen,  Phinelias,  403. 

Allen,  William  C.,  124. 

Allen,  Rufus,  244,  279,  295,  315,  317,  319,497. 

Adams,  John,  173 ;  vividly  describes  the  con- 
dition of  the  army  at  Crown  Point  in  1776, 
261 ;  on  affairs  at  Ticonderoga  in  1777,  280; 
3-J7,  3S'2.  369. 

Aristocracy,  Provincial,  333;  its  greediness 
for  office.  333, 334. 

Administration,  civil  and  judicial,  of  the 
State  excluded  from  Berkshire  in  1775, 
308. 

Adams,  Samuel,  211,  215,  216. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  356. 

Army,  Continental,  recruits  for,  279,  315; 
bounties  for,  316;  elaborate  plan  to  obtain, 
317. 

Aitken's  "  American  Register,"  468. 


Arnold,  Benedict,  214;  infamous  conductor, 
in  the  Ticonderoga  affair  in  1775,  218  et 
seq.  and  223;  letter  of,  219;  embezzles  pay 
of  Pittsfleld  soldiers,  225 ;  account  of,  sent 
.to  Gen.  Washington,  225.  —  See  John 
Brown. 

Arnold,  Oliver,  181. 

Andre,  Major,  320. 

Agriculture  of  Berkshire,  15. 

Aboriginal  names,  capricious  spelling  of,  16. 

Agricultural  Park,  35. 

Antankamet,  63. 

Albany,  63,  64;  patriotic  spirit  at,  209. 

Attleborough,  374. 

Andrew,  Gov.  John  A.,  8. 

Ausotunnoog,  17. 

Aborigines  of  Berkshire,  43. 

Aupaumut  Hendrick,  49,  52. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  peace  of,  84,  85,  86, 102. 

Anson,  Fort,  107, 108,  111,  113, 114. 

Arbutus  Hill  and  Ope,  30. 

Ashley  Lake  and  Brook,  31. 

Ashley  Lake,  fountain  of  the  Pittsfield  Water 
Works,  36. 

Ashlar  Factory,  34. 

Agricultural  Bank,  38. 

Albany,  distance  of,  from  Pittsfleld,  38. 

Ashley,  David,  86,  441,  459,  460. 

Ashley,  Capt.,  102, 103. 

Alexander,  Moses,  110. 

Ashley,  John,  120,  124, 139, 190, 311,  346,  348, 
405. 

Ammunition,  183. 

Animals,  wild,  of  Berkshire,  75. 

B. 

Berkshire,  county  of,  remarkable  for  its  in- 
dividuality of  character,  3 ;  its  boundaries, 
4;  a  conspicuous  feature  in  New-England 
605 


506 


INDEX. 


geography,  4 ;  valley  described,  5 ;  view  of, 
from  Pittsfield,  6;  scenery  of,  7;  physical 
structure  of,  epitomized,  9;  unity  and  di- 
vision of,  9;  population  of,  11;  external 
communication  with,  11,  12;  rise  of  val- 
ley, 13;  a  lake  county,  14;  unity  of  its 
geography,  15;  interior  geography  of,  13; 
boundary  disputes  between  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  21;  territory  of,  as  first 
seen  by  the  English,  43;  paucity  of  abo- 
riginal population  accounted  for,  45;  sum- 
mit of  valley,  13;  population  of,  in  1754, 
97;  county  organization  established,  130, 
132, 133, 134. 

Berlin  Mountain,  height  of,  8. 

Beaver  Dam,  25. 

Berry  Pond,  29;  path  to,  30. 

Barton  Brook,  28. 

Brattle  Brook,  28. 

Buel,  James,  31. 

Bass,  black,  placed  in  Pittsfield  lakes,  32. 

Barker  Brothers'  factories,  34. 

BarkersviJle,  34. 

Boston,  distance  from  Pittsfield,  38. 

Brooks,  Taconic,  28,  30. 

Burial-ground,  159. 

Baker,  John,  459. 

Bradford,  Gov.  William,  168. 

Baker,  Aaron,  163,  209,  244. 

Belding,  Phinehas,  163. 

Bates,  Daniel,  316. 

Bill  of  Rights,  368. 

Boston  Revolutionary  committees,  189. 

Boston  Port-Bill  sufferers,  contributions  for 
their  relief,  192;  proposal  to  move  seat  of 
government  from,  414;  tea-party,  184. 

Birch,  Joshua,  459. 

Burrage,  Deborah,  394. 

Bacon,  John,  348,  409,  432. 

Batty,  John,  281. 

Backus,  Lebbeus,  244,  315,  319,  367,  497. 

Brewer,  Daniel,  250. 

Bell,  Gen.,  in  American  army  at  White 
Plains,  253. 

Brewster,  Dr.  Oliver,  311. 

Brewster,  Dr.  Oliver  E.,  311. 

Barber,  William,  244,  252,  317,  319,  382,  497. 

Barnes,  Asa,  428. 

Branch,  John,  457,  459. 

Baker,  John,  457,  459. 

Branch,  Asa,  457,  459. 

Brown,  John,  181, 186,  189, 190,  201,203,  204, 
209,  211,  212,  216,  221,  222;  adventurous 
expeditions  of,  212  and  229 ;  hastens  Schuy- 
ler's  advance  on  Canada,  231 ;  further  ad- 
ventures in  Canada,  232 :  leads  the  advance 
into  Canada,  233;  unsuccessful  attempt  on 
Montreal,  234;  capture  of  Chamblee,  236; 


results  of,  238 ;  at  the  capture  of  Montreal, 
239;  at  the  siege  of  Quebec,  256;  Arnold's 
hatred  of,  257,  259;  malicious  charges  of 
Arnold  against,  266 ;  futile  attempts  to  ob- 
tain a  court-martial,  266;  appeals  to  Con- 
gress, 270 ;  charges  Arnold  with  treason 
and  other  crimes,  271 ;  impeachment  trans- 
mitted to  Congress,  272 ;  obtains  no  re.  '• 
and  appeals  to  the  country,  272 ;  remarka- 
ble interview  with  Arnold,  273;  Gross  in- 
justice of  Congress,  274;  spirited  remon- 
strance against,  275;  brilliant  exploit  at 
Lake  George,  304;  310,  348,  357. 

Baptists,  434,  451.  456,  459.  —  See  Dissenters 
and  Church. 

Barber,  Matthew,  209. 

Brown,  Capt.  Jacob,  258. 

Bill,  Jonathan,  255. 

Barnard,  Lemuel,  191. 

Bunker  Hill,  Battle  of,  sound  of  the  can- 
nonading heard  in  Berkshire,  241. 

Bennington,  British  expedition  against,  290; 
battle  of,  294 ;  alarm  attending,  291 ;  char- 
acter and  effect  of,  302. 

Burgoyne's  army  march  through  Pittsfield, 
306. 

Burgoyne's  overthrow,  quaint  verses  con- 
cerning, 307. 

Bounties  of  Revolutionary  soldiers,  316,  319. 

Bounty  jumpers  in  the  Revolution,  317. 

Backus,  William  G.,  45. 

Butler,  James  H.,  76. 

Birds  of  Berkshire,  76. 

Bush,  David,  86,  87,  93,  94, 112, 119, 120,  121, 
134,  159, 186, 189,  190,  203, 317,  318,  394,  418, 
435,  439,  442,  460. 

Brattle  family,  502. 

Bryant,  John,  459. 

Belts,  Uriah,  460. 

Bow,  Simon,  137. 

Brattle,  William,  136, 140. 

Bowen,  Samuel,  102. 

Bridal  tour  in  1752,  88. 

Briggs,  Gov.,  44. 

Bridges,  95, 135. 

Burnings  of  the  woods,  95. 

Bill,  a  curious,  presented  to  the  General 
Court,  103. 

Brewer,  John,  123, 124. 

Brown,  Daniel,  124,  139, 181. 

Bernard,  Sir  Francis,  130, 131. 

Beer,  140. 


0. 

Constitution  Hill,  24. 
Cochecomeek,  27,  65. 
Churchill,  Capt.  John,  29. 


INDEX. 


507 


Colt,  E.  R.,  31,  219. 

Churchill  Brook,  30. 

Coltsville,  13,  34. 

Claverack,  51. 

Cayugas,  51. 

Charles  the  Second,  grants  of,  to  the  Duke 

of  York,  56. 
Golden ,  Lieut.-Gov.,  58. 
County  seats  as  originally  established,  133. 
Cohquahegameek,  64. 
Coleraine,  65,  120. 
Charlemout,  65. 
Cranesville,  65. 
Cook,  Elisha,  66. 
Colson,  David,  67. 
Clark,  Jonas,  67. 
Cadwcll,  Timothy,  86. 
Cliffwood,  Terraces,  9. 
Cadwell,  Dan,  87, 189,  203,  358,  414,  435. 
f'   Cooks,  the,  homicide  of  a  Schaghticoke  by, 

100. 

/       Chamberlain  family,  massacre  of,  at  Stock- 
bridge,  103. 

Chadwick,  John,  124,  139. 
Commons  lands,  129. 
Conflagrations  of  woods,  152. 
Controversies,  theological,  160. 
Clark,  Rev.  Mr.,  160. 
Clark,  Joseph,  251. 
Chandler,  Jabez,  255. 
Canoe  Meadows,  45, 128. 
Columbia  County,  N.Y.,  48. 
Connecticut  Valley,  Indian  ravages  in,  53,  55. 
Currency,  Provincial,  table  of  depreciation, 

467. 

Currency,  Continental,  321,  391,  437. 
Charters  of  Massachusetts,  332,  336,  343. 
Constitution,  State,  324, 354, 356, 359, 361,  362, 

365,  366. 

Constitutionalists  of  Berkshire  reject  the 
State  government  of  1775,  324;  party  prin- 
ciples of,  337. 

Committee,  government  of  1774,  1780,  de- 
scribed by   its   opponents,  358,  374;   its 
origin,  375;  a  town  court  established,  3S1; 
rules  of  practice  in,  381. 
Court-house,  new,  in  Pittsfield,  38 ;  first  in 
Pittsfield,  123,  423,  424 ;  proposed  site  for 
a  new,  in  1774,  426;  built  at  Lenox,  433. 
Church,  First,  organized,  162, 163;  names  of 

first  members,  163;  increase  of,  165. 
Colling,  Daniel,  198. 
'  V \v,  William,  208. 
<     amberlain,  Joseph,  208. 
Columbia  County,  N.Y.,  207. 
Canadians,  French,  in  the  Revolution,  229. 
Census  of  1772, 182,  497. 
Charter,  attacks  on  the  Provincial,  187. 
Correspondence,  Committees   of,  190,  244. 
—  See  Committees  of  Inspection. 


Colefix,  Sergeant,  261. 
Curtis,  Peter,  190. 
Chapell,  Joshua,  317. 
Clapp,  Jason,  11. 

Connecticut,  facilities  of  communication  with 
Berkshire,  12 ;  boundary  dispute  with  Xew 
York,  56,  59 ;  102, 104 ;  charter  government 
of,  332. 

Connecticut  River,  56,  57,  58. 
Courant,  Hartford,  370,  585,  387,499. 
Courts,  County,  133 ;  obstructed  in  1774, 193, 
196,  325;  suspended  for  six  years,  348; 
proceedings  regarding,  359  et  seq. 
Crofoot,  Stephen,  86,  93,  94,  112,  119,  120, 

134, 140, 163, 183,  203,  244,  251,  394. 
Crofoot,  Lieut.  Stephen,  230,  280,  288. 
Crofoot,  Simeon,  86, 112, 134. 
Collins,  Daniel,  163. 

Childs,  Dr.  Timothy.  180,  189,  194,  203,  204, 
206,  260,  306,  409,  412,  432,  435,  439,  442, 
459,  460. 

Childs,  Dr.  H.  H.,  452. 
Churchill,  Isaac,  394. 
Colt  James  D.,  203,  204,  209,  319,  394,  418, 

437,  442. 

Colt,  Madam  James  D.,  322. 
Cattle,  a  thousand,  offered  by  Berkshire  in 
"  1775,  to  transport  Ticonderoga   cannon, 
222. 

Chronicle,  Berkshire,  400. 
Chadfield,  Jonathan,  459. 
Coggswell,  Rufus,  459. 
Clark,  Joseph,  418. 
Crandall,  Augustus,  460. 
Congress,  Provincial,  201 ;  advice  of,  followed 

by  Pittsfield,  202. 

Congress,  Continental,  respect  of  Pittsfield 
for,  202. 

D. 

Dickinson,  Lieut.  Joel,  227,  258,  321,  435, 
441. 

Dickinson,  Seth,  460. 

Dickinson,  Mrs.  Israel,  436. 

DnnU'lson,  surgeon's  mate,  killed  at  White 
Plains,  253. 

Dow,  Lorenzo,  456. 

Davis,  Xathan,  460. 

Danforth,  Joshua,  409,  421,  436,  437,  441, 442. 

Debtors,  poor,  340,  391,  393. 

Debt,  public,  390. 

Debt,  imprisonment  for,  392. 

Dissenters  in  1790  from  the  Congregational 
denomination,  459 ;  taxed  for  the  building 
of  a  Congregational  meeting-house,  452; 
enter  their  protests  against  the  assess- 
ment, 457;  Henry  Van  Schaack  com- 


508 


INDEX. 


mences  a  suit  to  resist  It,-  458 ;  Mr.  Van 
Schaack  brings  the  matter  before  a  town 
meeting,  458 ;  action  of  the  town  thereon, 
459 ;  curious  inquisition  into  religious  faith, 
459;  report  of  committee  upon  rights  of 
dissenters,  460;  Mr.  Van  Schaack's  suit 
decided,  and  the  dissenters  taxes  remitted, 
462;  later  State  laws,  463. 

Dwight,  Gen.  Joseph,  81,  84;  calls  the  first 
Plantation  meeting  of  Poontoosuck,  92;  99, 
100, 101,  102,  lOfi,  11'3,  139. 

Dunham,  Calvin,  393. 

Dickinson,  Israel,  163,  173, 180, 189, 198,  203, 
204,  209, 217,  222,  241,  250,  295, 334,  345,  354, 
356,384. 

Dwight,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  124. 

Dwight,  Elijah,  139, 176,  402,  432. 

Douglas,  Capt.  Asa,  217,  218. 

Deacon,  title  of,  95. 

Deer-reeves  and  deer-laws,  134. 

Deming,  Solomon,  86;  becomes  the  first  set- 
tler of  Poontoosuck,  86,  93, 112,  134,  459. 

Deming,  Noadiah,  459;  John,  459. 

Deming,  Mrs.  Solomon,  monument  to,  86. 

Dawes,  Hon.  H.  L.,  205. 

Dunnels,  David,  219. 

Dalton,  14,  23,  43,  65,  361,  404. 

Doane,  Ebenezer,  3-38. 

Dwight,  President,  on  the  word  "  Honsa- 
touic:"  17. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  80,  91. 

Dewey,  Daniel,  216. 

Doll  Mountain,  30. 

Daniels  Brook,  30. 

Dutch,  the,  20,  57. 

Dewey,  Chester,  8. 

Deer-shooting,  25. 

Dewey,  Abner,  95,  103, 112,  121. 

Dewey,  Abner  and  Israel,  86,  93, 112. 

Dickinson,  Obadiah,  89. 

Day,  Benjamin,  89. 

D'Anville,  French  naval  armament  against 
New  England,  81 ;  commits  suicide,  81. 

Dewey,  Benedict,  112. 


Everett,  Mount,  height  of,  8. 

Ensign's  Pond,  26. 

Ensign,  Jacob,  93,  95,  112, 120,  121,  134,  163, 

209,358. 

Edwards,  Timothy,  191,  429. 
Eggleston,  Elisha,  393. 
Eli,  Samuel,  397. 
Emanuel  Chapsl,  34. 
Elkins,  Jacob,  20. 
Eskwatak,  the  Mohegan  form  of  Schodac, 

48. 


Ewing,  John,  68. 

Equinox  Mountain,  5. 

Egremont,  133. 

Easton's  regiment  in  first  Canadian  cam- 
paign, 230,  238;  advances  to  the  Sorel, 
239;  blockades  Gen.  Carleton's  fleet,  239; 
services  described  by  Gen.  Montgomery, 
240;  discharged,  258. 

Elm,  The  Old,  of  the  Park,  35, 153,  335,  439; 
saved,  440,  503. 

Episcopacy,  456,  458,  459.  —  See  Dissenters. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  7,  100, 101. 

Easton,  Col.  James,  136,  139,  178,  183,  189, 
190, 191, 192,  204,  209,  216;  advises  an  in- 
vasion of  Canada,  and  asks  command  of  a 
regiment,  227,  295;  animosity  of  Arnold 
against,  266;  appeals  to  Congress  for  re- 
dress, 267;  applies  to  Washington  for  a 
command,  and  referred  to  Congress,  268 ; 
action  thereupon,  269;  retires  from  ser- 
vice, 270. 

Easton,  Lieut.  James,  203,  230,  305,  311. 

Everett,  Thomas,  455. 


F. 


Field,  Rev.  Dr.,  19. 

Ford,  William,  295,  310. 

Fowler,  Stephen,  394,  418, 436. 

Farr,  Joseph,  418. 

Framingham  Pond,  24. 

Framingham,  New,  24,  133. 

Fish,  31. 

Fire  district  of  Pittsfield,  35. 

Flouring  mills,  33. 

Forsythe,  Alexander,  67. 

Foote,  J.  A.,  68. 

Forts  on  western  frontier  of  Massachusetts, 

107, 114. 

Fort  Massachusetts, 
Festivities,  curious,  in  1783,  322. 
Fulling  mills,  33, 141. 
Forts  at  Poontoosuck,  107. 
Fairfield,  Nathaniel,  86,  87,  112,  119,  122, 134. 
French  in  Canada,  their  influence  with  the 

Indians,  105. 
French,  John,  393. 

Fairfield,  Joseph,  317, 319,  358,  412,  414,  442. 
Fairfield,  Fort,  112. 
Francis,  William,  134,  179, 189,  194,  203,  209, 

244,  288,  295,  306,  382,  404,  418.  » 

Francis,  Rev.  John,  455,  459. 
Financial  troubles  of  1780,  391. 
Francis,  Josiah,  459. 
Fairfield,  Mrs.  Judith,  140. 
Fellows,  Col.  John,  204,  301,  387. 
Francis,  Robert,  460. 
Financial  scheme,  a  curious,  398. 
Fitch,  Dyer,  457,  460. 


INDEX. 


509 


G. 

Greylock,  height  of,  5,  8;  7,  9;  a  feature  in 
Berkshire  scenery,  6,  24,  26. 

Green  Mountains,  5,  7, 15. 

Goodrich,  Lake,  27. 

Guyot,  Prof.,  4. 

Greenbush,  48;  Mohegans  destroy  cattle  at, 
51;  194,195,428. 

Great  Barriugton,  43,  93, 133, 134. 

Grist-mills,  141. 

Glass-making,  14. 

Garusey,  1(30. 

Gardening  in  1760, 143. 

Green  Mountains,  the,  their  structure  de- 
fined, 5;  valley  of,  traced,  5;  elevation  of, 
6;  transverse  valleys  of,  8;  called  Wiuter- 
berge  by  the  Dutch,  15. 

Girdling  of  trees,  77. 

Game,  wild,  76. 

Grouse,  76. 

Goodrich,  Daniel,  459. 

Graves,  Moses,  123,  126,  127,  128,  133,  151, 
173,  208,  248,  251. 

Goodrich,  Benjamin,  112. 

Goodrich,  Butler,  441. 

Goodrich,  Caleb,  288. 

Gardner,  John,  255. 

Guitteau,  Dr.,  at  White  Plains,  252. 

Gunu,  Gideon,  86. 

Gunn,  Keuben,  134. 

Goodrich,  liubbard,  459. 

George  Third,  177-,  2i3. 

Graves,  John,  248,  250,  385. 

Gold,  Thomas,  400,  437,  459,  504. 

Green,  liev.  Hobert,  456. 

Grant,  Titus,  409. 

Gageborough,  361. 

Government,  civil,  state  of,  in  Massachu- 
setts hi  1775,  320;  formation  of  a  new, 
326;  John  Adams's  opinion  upon,  327;  ad- 
vice of  Continental  Congress  concerning, 
328;  Congressional  advice  adopted,  329; 
opposition  to,  in  AVestorn  Massachusetts, 
330;  opposition  yielded,  330;  reasons  for 
renewing,  331,  334;  that  proposed  by  Con- 
gress criticised,  338 ;  rejected  in  Berkshire, 
33S;  Pittslield  petitions  the  legislature 
against,  343;  discussed,  352. 

Goodnch,  Charles,  88, 90,  93, 97, 103,  111,  120, 
121,  124,  126,  135, 163, 179, 186, 194, 203,  209, 
279,295,  33t,  350,  370,  378;  political  con- 
troversy of,  with  the  town,  384  et  seq. ; 
legislative  opinion  of,  386;  summoned  be- 
fore the  committee  of  inspection,  386; 
posted  in  "The  Hartford  Courant,"  387; 
reconciliation  with  the  town,  387;  re- 
ceives honorable  trusts,  388;  holds  the 


plough  at  the  first  Berkshire  cattle-show, 
388;  death  of,  388;  402,  432,  436,  503. 
Goodrich,  Dr.  Charles  8.,  503. 


H. 

Hoosac  Mountains,  elevation  of,  8,  64. 

Hoosac,  Dutch,  massacre  at,  102. 

Hoosac,  West,  114. 

Huckamuck,  63. 

Hartford,  a  market  for  Berkshire,  12;  boun- 
dary conference  at,  57. 

Hartford,  95. 

Hazzard,  Jaffrey,  316,  317. 

Hudson,  12. 

"  Hartford  Courant,"  12, 138. 

Hinsdale,  Jonathan,  104. 

Ilolman,  Ebenezer,  112. 

Husson,  translation  of,  20. 

Hatter's  Pond,  26. 

Highways,  95, 121, 135. 

Honwee,  Mount,  24,  28. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  45,  62, 128. 

Hulbert,  Dr.  Shadrack,  459. 

Hurlbert,  Timothy,  460. 

Heard,  James,  459. 

Hopkins,  Mark,  139, 190. 

Hopkins,  Samuel,  163. 

Hopkins,  Daniel,  163. 

Hooker,  Rev.  John,  165. 

Hawley,  Major,  174, 199,  211. 

Harris,  James,  361,  387. 

Hogsden,  Alexander,  192. 

Hitchcock,  John,  227. 

Hubby,  Tertullas,  458. 

Hobby,  Jonathan,  251,  459. 

lluskins,  Enoch,  418. 

Harvey,  Moses,  407. 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Samuel,  17. 

Hancock,  town  of,  23,  89. 

Hubbard,  Daniel,  86, 122,  163,  181,  317,  400, 
412,  414,  418,  459,  460. 

liubbard,  James,  280,  288,  295,  435,  437,  442. 

Hubbard,  Rev.  Jonathan,  146. 

Hubbard,  Henry,  146. 

Hubbard,  of  Ipswich,  17. 

Hitchcock,  Ebenezer,  124. 

Horikans,  51. 

Hutchins,  Thomas,  58. 

Hardy,  Governor  of  New  York,  58. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  67. 

Hope,  definition  of,  7. 

Huston,  Capt.  John,  surveys  the  township, 
67, 125. 

Hinman,  Col.,  of  Connecticut,  224. 

Hinman,  Capt.,  in  1754,  106,  110,  111. 

Iluntington,  Rev.  Enoch,  161. 

Hazen,  Col.,  275. 


510 


INDEX. 


Hue  and  Cry  defined,  246. 
Hessian,  anecdote  of  a,  252. 
Hampshire  County,  12,  59. 
Housatonic,  valley  of,  5;  rise  of,  13. 
Housatonic  River,  branches  described,  13, 
28 ;  name  of,  17,  64. 


Inspection,  Committee  of,  203,  244, 245;  their 

origin,  375;  peculiarities  of,  in  Berkshire, 

378. 
.  Inquisition,  religious,  curious  instance  of, 

459. 
,/'  Indians  at  Poontoosuck,  114. 

Indian  allies  of  Great  Britain,  279;  murders 

by,  281,  310. 
Iron  manufacture,  210. 
Indian  names,  fate  of,  24. 
.  Iroquois,  28. 

Indian  villages  in  Berkshire,  43. 
Indian  relics,  44. 
Indian  Hill,  44. 
Indian  Point,  45. 
Indian  burial-places,  45. 
Indian  nomenclature,  interest  of,  46. 
Iroquois  league,  tribes  of,  threatened  with 

extinction,  49;  united,  conquer  the  Mohe- 

gans,  50;   after-relations  with  the  Mohe- 

gans,  51. 

Indian  population  of  Western  Massachu- 
setts, mcagreness  of,  51. 
Indians    annoy   the    first   settlers,   86,  87; 

doubtful  disposition  of,  in  1752,  86. 
Indians  of  the  Stockbridge  mission,  98,99; 

at  the  Battle  of  Bennington,  299;  infest 

Upper  Hampshire,  81,  106. 
Indians,  St.  Francois,  213. 
Independence,    national,    early    belief    of 

Berkshire  patriots  in,  243,  341. 
Ingersoll,  Capt.,  of  Great  Barrington,  102, 

103. 

Ice,  power  of,  illustrated,  26. 
Ingersoll,  David,  139,  196. 
Ingersoll,  Jared,  241,  416,  436. 
Instructions  to  representatives,  184. 
Inoculation  for  small-pox,  proposed  by  Dr. 

Timothy  Childs,  260.  — See  Small-pox. 

J. 

Jewish  amulets  found  among  the  Indians, 

44. 

Janes,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  53. 
Janes,  Elisha,  90,  124,  126, 173,  208,  250. 
Jones,  Hezekiah,  86,  93,  94,  110,  112, 119. 
Jones,  Mrs.  Seth,  anecdote  of,  140. 
Jones,  Mrs.  Mehitable,  250. 
Johnson,  David,  316. 
Jeffords,  John,  457,  459. 


Jewett,  Stephen,  457,  459. 
Janes,  Seth,  460. 

Judiciary,  Provincial,  339;   an  elective,  de- 
sired by  Pittsfield,  357. 
Joe  Keller's  farm,  25. 

K 

Konkapot,  the  chief,  18,  63. 
Kinderhook,  12,  51, 100,  210. 
Kellington  Peak,  5. 
King's  District,  N.Y.,  207,  209. 
Keiler,  Joseph,  244. 
Kerr,  Col.,  in  the  British  army,  252. 
Kingsley,  Elisha,  260. 

Keyzer,  Fort,  ambuscade  of  Col.  Brown  at 
313. 

L. 

Lakes  of  Pittsfield,  23. 

Lulu  Ope  and  Cascade,  29, 114. 

Lilly  Bowl,  27. 

Lilly  Brook,  and  Ope,  30. 

Life  Insurance  Co.,  Berkshire,  38. 

Leni  Lenape,  degrading  vassalage  of,  50. 

Lanesborough,  14,  22,  89,  98,  114,  129,  132, 

248,  281,  427,  428,  429,  431,  432. 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  178,  196. 
League  and  covenant,  190,  191. 
Lots,  house,  home,  or  settling,  described,  69. 
Lenox,  23,  280,  400,  402,  427,  428,  429. 
Lakes  of  Berkshire,  14. 
Lee,  14. 

Lenox  Furnace,  14. 
Lanesborough  Pond,  24. 
Laborers,  transient,  138. 
Langworthy,  Andrew,  457,  459. 
Larnard,  Simon,  412,  435,  503. 
Livingston  Manor,  18. 
Livingston,  Philip,  68,  85, 123. 
Lamb,  Charles,  459,  460. 
Little,  Woodbridge,  173,  186,  198,  207,  246, 

247,  250,  251,  295,  317,  319,  371,  394,  412, 

418,  427,  429,  435,  453,  459,  460,  497. 
Larnard,  Darius,  504. 
Lawyers,  339,  340, 344. 
Loudon  (now  Otis),  361. 
Lexington,  Battle  of,  206. 
Lee,  Dr.  Jonathan,  207,  497. 
Livingston,  James,  230,  232, 233,  237, 238,  239, 

258. 

Leslie,  Gen.,  in  the  British  army,  252. 
Lee,  Moses,  394. 
Lee,  Mother  Ann,  453. 

M. 

Meeting-house,  first  action  concerning,  94; 
difficulties  arise,  94, 151;  plan  of,  153;  de- 
scription of,  157;  congregation  in,  157; 
scenes  in,  158,  335;  destruction  of,  445. 


INDEX. 


511 


Meeting-house  of  1790,  action  preliminary 
to,  418,  435;  no  voluntary  contributions 
for,  436 ;  town  debts  appropriated  for,  435, 
437 ;  estimate  of  cost,  435 ;  location  of,  de- 
termined upon,  439,  441;  Joel  Dickinson 
master  builder,  441;  difference  regarding 
the  mode  of  arranging  the  seats,  442;  first 
bell,  444;  pride  of  the  people  In,  446. 

Manufactures  of  Berkshire,  14. 

Manufactures  of  Pittsfield,  33,  34. 

Marble,  14. 

Melville  Lake,  27. 

Melville,  Thomas  and  Kobert,  27. 

Morewood,  J.  R.,  27. 

Mahtookamin,  27,  64,  65. 

Mahecanak,  Lake,  31. 

Maplewood  Young  Ladies'  Institute,  6,  37. 

Mohegans,  43. 

Merrick,  Capt.  Joseph,  44. 

Meadows,  Canoe,  44. 

Mahicanituck,  name  of  the  Hudson,  49. 

Montague,  Arnold,  50. 

Menanokc,  64. 

Moseley,  David,  89. 

Malt,  140. 

Massachusetts,  Fort,  80,  82,  84, 114. 

Marsh,  Perez,  139. 

Mott,  Capt.  Edward,  214. 

Morse,  Isaac,  316. 

Morey,  Jonathan,  317. 

Middletown,  Conn.,  161. 

Moseley,  Josiah,  435. 

Miller.'william,  504. 

Militia,  20.3,  279,  289;  of  Berkshire  at  Ben- 
nington,  297,  303;  of  Pittsfield,  Revolution- 
ary service  of,  315. 

Massachusetts,  condition  of  affairs  in,  in  1786, 
%391. 

Minute-men,  204;  uniform  of,  205. 

March  on  Lexington,  alarm,  206,  278. 

Massachusetts,  counties  of,  distinguished  by 
physical  peculiarities,  3;  western  boundary 
of,  56. 

Middlesex  County,  24. 

Moose,  52. 

Mansfield  Mountain,  5. 

Maples,  37. 

Mount  Washington,  98. 

Miller,  Moses,  112. 

Morals,  early  in  Berkshire,  138. 

Misdemeanors  and  crimes,  138,  340;  curious 
facts  concerning,  380. 

Mohawks,  attempt  to  introduce,  in  Stock- 
bridge-  mission,  51, 101. 

Methodism  introduced  in  Pittsfield,  455; 
formally  established,  456,  464. 

Morgan,  Thomas,  163. 

M-rrill,  II' wa,  241,  319. 

Morcy,  James,  385. 

Merwin,  Moses,  459. 


Miner,  Israel,  460. 

Minister,  salary  of,  164. 

Magistracy,  provincial,  333,  334,  343,  357. 

Montreal,  unsuccessful  project  of  Brown  and 
Allen  against,  234. 

Marsh,  Dr.,  of  Dalton,  504. 

McKay,  Capt.,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  248. 

Millard,  Abiather,  460. 

May,  Rev.  Mr.,  in  the  army  at  White  Plains, 
252. 

Mather,  Dr.,  at  White  Plains,  253. 

Merry,  Samuel,  261. 

Mohegan  nation,  its  pristine  prosperity,  46,  ^ 
49 ;  protected  by  the  English,  47 ;  increased 
in  numbers  by  the  New-England  wars,  47 ; 
essentially  a  New- York  tribe,  48 ;  occupy 
the  territory  now  Berkshire,  Columbia,  and 
Rensselaer  Counties,  48 ;  original  name,  48 ; 
origin  of  the  race,  49;  its  migrations,  49 ; 
settles  on  the  Hudson,  49;  victorious 
career  of,  49;  reverse  of  fortune,  50;  re- 
duced to  vassalage,  50;  attempt  to  regain 
its  independence,  50 ;  defeated,  and  driven 
to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  50 ;  its  history 
there,  50 ;  exodus  in  1628,  51 ;  subsequent 
condition,  51;  numbers  of,  in  Berkshire, 
52;  customs  of,  52;  occupation  of  Poon- 
toosuck,  52;  vassals  of  the  Iroquois  in 
1754,  101;  relations  of,  to  the  Iroquois, 
102;  position  in  J754, 105. 


N. 

Nomenclature,  changes  in  Berkshire  geo- 
graphical, 16;  of  towns,  131. 

New  York,  patriotic  spirit  in  the  Revolution, 
210.  —  See  New  Netherlands. 

New  Netherlands,  Dutch  settlers  of,  maintain 
intimate  relations  with  the  natives,  20 ;  be- 
comes New  York,  51;  effect  of  change 
upon  Indian  relations,  51. 

Norman's  Kill,  20. 

New  Lebanon,  23. 

North  woods,  35. 

Narragansetts,  slaughter  of,  at  Stockbridge, 
47. 

New  Marlborough,  43,  98. 

Negroes,  157;  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
250,  316. 

Noble,  David,  115, 134, 136, 179, 189, 190, 203, 
205;  interesting  letter  from,  261;  death  of, 
261;  278. 

Noble,  James,  189,  223,  224,  227,244, 295, 319, 
362,  363,  367. 

Noble,  Benjamin,  250. 

Noble,  Francis,  250. 

Northampton,  53,  54,  64,  95. 

Non-residents,  taxation  of,  318,  321. 

Norton,  Zebulon,  208. 


512 


INDEX. 


0. 

Ope,  definition  of,  in  topography,  7. 

Officers,  civil,  deprived  of  commissions  in 
1776,  347. 

Orthography  of  aboriginal  names,  16. 

Otis,  James,  130,  174. 

O'Callaghan,  Dr.  E.  B.,  16, 19, 54. 

Onota  Lake,  25 ;  fort  at,  113. 

Onota  Brook,  28. 

Oceola,  manufacturing  village,  34. 

Oceola,  Mount,  10. 

Owen,  killed  by  Indians  at  Stockbridge,  103. 

Orondocks,  105. 

Onuhgungoes,  105;  exiles  from  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley,  105. 

P. 

Palfrey,  Dr.,  "  History  of  New  England," 
concerning  the  physical  structure  of  Berk- 
shire, 4. 

Perry's  Peak,  height  of,  8. 

Pontoosuck  Turnpike,  11. 

Pontoosuc  Lake,  23. 

Poph-ne-hon-nuh-woh,  18. 

Promised  Land,  the,  29. 

Promise,  Ope  of,  29. 

Pine  Mountain  and  Ope,  30. 

Parker  Brook,  30.  • 

Parker,  Linus  and  John  C.,  31. 

Pickerel  introduced  to  Pittsfleld  waters,  31. 

Pequots,  the,  50. 

Pierson,  Benjamin,  361. 

Phelps,  Elnathan,  163,  453. 

Parker,  Mrs.  Phinehas,  137. 

Pratt,  Sarah,  138. 

Pittsfield  Bank,  38. 

Pell,  John,  138. 

Pound,  first  appropriation  for,  140. 

Paper-mills,  14. 

Phelps,  "William,  163. 

Patterson,  Col.  John,  204,  404,  409. 

Phelps,  Noah,  214. 

Phelps,  Samuel,  459. 

Phelps,  John,  460. 

Patriotic  generosity,  splendid  instance  of, 
205. 

Prices  in  1760, 143. 

Prices  in  1786,  410. 

Prices,  Revolutionary  market,  471. 

Pontoosuc  Manufacturing  Company,  24, 34. 

Pomeroy's  Sons'  factories,  34. 

Pittsfield  woollen  mills,  34. 

Pleasure  Park,  35. 

Peck,  J.  L.,  manufactories,  34. 

Prout,  Timothy,  66. 

Partridge,  Oliver,  82, 85, 90, 108, 123, 137, 151, 
174, 176. 

Pontoosuck  Turnpike,  11. 


Partridge  Meadow,  13. 

Parsons,  Stephen,  110. 

Pepperell,  Sir  William,  111,  115,  118. 

Phelps,  Ezekiel,  112. 

Phelps,  Lemuel,  163. 

Porter,  Col.,  82. 

Plantations  under  the  Province  laws,  92. 

Piercey,  Sylvanus,  daughter  of.  saved  from 
the  Indians,  104. 

Piercey,  Mrs.,  110. 

Piercey,  Sylvanus,  110, 122. 

Pendar,  137. 

Poontoosuck,  translation  of  name,  16;  a  fa- 
vorite Indian  hunting-ground,  46;  Indian 
occupation  of,  52;  aspect  of,  before  settle- 
ment, 77;  first  partition  of  township  made, 
87;  partition  annulled,  90;  incorporated 
as  a  plantation,  91;  first  plantation  meet- 
Ing,  93;  state  of  plantation  in  1754,  97; 
evacuated  in  Indian  alarm  in  1754, 103, 104 ; 
subsequent  condition  of,  107;  life  at,  in 
1754,  109. 

Prices,  Revolutionary,  469. 

Pittsfield,  central  position  of,  10 ;  boundaries 
of,  22;  t9wns  adjoining,  22;  general  de- 
scription of,  22;  park,  description  of,  35; 
subdivisions  of  the  town,  35 ;  streets,  37 ; 
shade-trees,  37;  churches  of,  38;  shire- 
town  of  Berkshire,  38 ;  distance  from  Bos- 
ton, Albany,  and  New  York,  38;  popula- 
tion, 39;  valuation  in  1868,  39;  number  ot 
polls  and  dwellings,  39;  Indian  villages 
in,  44. 

Pine  forests,  75,  77. 

Pequots,  100. 

Putnam,  Israel,  116. 

Pitt,  William,  132. 

Pauperism  and  poverty,  137. 

Partition  of  township  of  Poontoosuck,  124. 

Proprietors,  non-resident,  148. 

Puritanism,  150. 

Pews,  153. 

Peace  of  1783,  celebration  of,  322. 

Parliament,  obnoxious  acts  of,  187. 

Paine,  Thomas,  335 ;  publication  of  "  Com- 
mon Sense,"  347. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  437. 

Phillips,  Margaret,  437. 

Pomeroy,  Ebenezer,  16. 

Partridge,  William,  436. 

Partridge,  John,  435. 

Patterson's  regiment,  207;  at  siege  of  Bos. 
ton,  241;  at  the  battles  of  the  Delaware, 
254;  in  Canada,  260,  278. 

Parsons,  Col.  Samuel  H.,  214. 

Prindle,  Jonathan,  250. 

Pixley,  Capt.,  259. 

Powder,  scarcity  of,  in  siege  of  St.  John's, 
236. 

Prisoners  of  war,  381. 


INDEX. 


513 


Poor,  the,  of  Massachusetts  in  1786,  392; 
beneficent  legislation  in  favor  of,  resisted, 
392;  finally  successful,  392;  harsh  treat- 
ment of,  under  the  old  law,  393. 

Park,  Pittslirkl,  altitude  of,  8;  origin  of,  440. 

Pomeroy,  Col.  Seth,  199,  211,  474. 

Peck,  Israel,  514. 

Parker,  Linus,  anecdote  of,  249;  adventure 
at  Bennington  fight,  299. 

Parker,  Giles,  313. 

Prince  (Hall) ;  a  negro  slave,  and  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  250. 

Parker,  Bishop  of  Eastern  Diocese,  462. 

Paine,  Judge,  462. 

Petition  of  Pittsfield,  that  the  courts  may 
not  be  held  after  the  perversion  of  the 
charter  in  1774,  194;  and  remonstrance 
against  the  State  government  of  1775,  343, 
351. 

Premonition,  instance  of,  313. 


Q. 


Queensborough,  131. 
Quit-rents,  58. 


Rathbun,  Valentine,  builds  clothiers' works, 

26 ;  178, 356, 362 ;  organizes  Baptist  church, 

452;  457. 

Rathbun,  Benjamin,  459. 
Russell,  Eleazer,  459. 
Rathbun,  Saxton,  457,  459. 
Rust,  Samuel,  406,  414. 
Root,  Franklin,  310. 
Root,  Dr.  O.S.,  242,  310. 
Root,  Ezekiel,  189,  190,  295. 
Romans,  Bernard,  214. 
Robbins,  Joshua,  244,  317,  442,  497. 
Rossiter,  Col.  David,  distinguished  service 

at  Bennington,  295,  500. 
Robbins,  Nathaniel,  503. 
Root,  Eli,  121,  134, 181, 186,  203,  204,  230,  244, 

258,  317,  319,  356,  367,  382,  412,  414,  442, 

453,  503. 

Rust,  Daniel,  460. 
Remington,  John,  134,  459. 
Reservoirs,  14. 

Richmond,  town  of,  23,  280,  310,  346,  410. 
Rhode  Island,  charter  government  of,  332, 

372. 

Rangers,  Rogers,  116. 
Rattlesnakes,  none  in  Pittsfield,  76. 
Reptiles,  76. 
Richmond  Lake,  26,  28. 
Rathbun's  Pond,  26. 
Russell,  S.  N.  &  C.,  woollen  mills,  34. 
Rhinebeck,  Indian  battle  at,  50. 
33 


Rittenhouse,  David,  58. 

Root,  Joseph,  72. 

Root,  Samuel,  74,  115. 

Root,  Amos,  87. 

Rogers,  Major  Robert,  116. 

Roads,  95,  121,135. 

Regiment,  Mass.  Eighth,  in  1745,  80. 

Religious  institutions,  150. 

Religious  liberty  and  equality,  369,  395. 

Rum,  441. 

Root,  Oliver,  115, 178, 189,  295,  310,  311,  313; 

defends  Fort  Paris,  314;  319,  418,  435,  436, 

442,  497,  503. 

S. 

Stoddard,  John,   16,  63,  64,  65,  82,  83,  87; 

death  of,  87 ;  heirs  of,  124. 
Stoddard,  Madam  Prudence,  widow  of  Col. 

John,  and  guardian  of  his  children,  85,  91, 

124. 

Stoddard,  Solomon,  151. 
Stratton,  Major,  500. 
Skene,  Major,  of  Skenesborough,  218,  290, 

499,  500. 

Soldiers,  supplies  for,  279. 
Soldiers,  Revolutionary,  after  the  war,  392, 

393. 

Sabbath,  the,  346. 
Shakers,  anecdote  of,  314;  introduction  to 

Berkshire,  453,  455;   names  of,  in  Pitts- 
field,  459. 

Sargent,  Rev.  John,  17. 
Stratford,  Housatonic  River  so  called,  19. 
Salmon  Creek,  21. 
Shoon-keek-moon-keek,  24. 
Sandisfield,  98. 
St.  Luke's  Hill,  24. 
Sylvan  Lake,  27. 
Silver  Lake,  26. 
Shaker  Brook,  28,  32 
Shaker  Mountain,  30. 
Sackett  and  Seeley  Brooks,  31. 
Stockbridgc  Bowl,  31. 
Stockbridge,  43,  53,  98, 100, 120. 
Stratton  Mountain,  5. 
South  Mountain,  9,  10. 
Saw  and  grist  mills,  94. 
Springfield,  53,  55. 
Springside,  6,  37. 
Stoddard,  Mrs.  Israel,  436. 
Shays,  Daniel,  403. 

Settlers,  early,  Dr.  Field's  account  of,  47"). 
Sheffield,  43,  55,  58,  98,  133,  428. 
Schuyler,  Gen.  Philip,  his  opinion  of  the 

Berkshire  troops,  228, 280;  correspondence 

with  Pittsfield  committee,  286;    conduct. 

towards  the  Berkshire  militia,  289. 
Services,  Revolutionary,  recited  in  Pittsfleld 

petition,  351. 


514 


INDEX. 


Scenery  of  Pittsfield,  6. 

Stearnsville  woollen  mills,  34. 

Stearnsville  Village,  34. 

Schofield,  Arthur,  makes  in  Pittsfield  the 

first  broad  looms  in  America,  33. 
^        Schaghticoke  Indians,  43 ;  village  of,  in  Berk- 
shire, 47;  one  of  the  tribe  killed,  100;  hos- 
tile in  1754,  105. 

'    Stearns  killed  by  the  Indians  in  1754,  104. 
Savings  Institution,  Berkshire,  38. 
Small-pox  in  the  army,  259,  261;  prejudice 

against  inoculation  for,  259. 
Schodac,  the  capital  of  the  Mohegans,  48. 
Stockbridge,  53,  133,  368,  428. 
Smith,  Cotton  Mather,  94. 
Stiles,  Zebediah,  88,  140,  436. 
Stiles,  Ephraim,  112,  119,  163. 
Stark,  Gen.  John,  116,  292. 
Suffrage,  right  of,  135. 
Schools,  135,  136 ;  grammar,  464. 
Schoolhouses,  130 ;  grammar,  446. 
School  districts,  136. 
Stiles,  Aaron,  159. 
Sergeant,  Erastus,  191. 
Solomon,  Capt.,  Stockbridge  chief,  296. 
Sackett,  Daniel,  414,  442. 
Sackett,  Jesse,  86, 112, 120,  152. 
Slavery,  137;  desire  of  Pittsfield  to  exclude, 

from  the  State,  366,  368. 
Sound,  remarkable  transmission  of,  242. 
Stone  Arabia,  battle  of,  309. 
Shays  Rebellion,  389  et  seq. ;  its  causes,  389; 
false  notions  of  public  grievances  among 
them,  336 ;  character  of  the  rebel  leaders, 
396;  action  of  the  Berkshire  conservatives 
397. 
Strong,  John,  137,  189,  190,  194,  244,  288  295 

305,  323,  378,  414. 

Sedgwick,  Theodore,  190,  409,  432. 
Stanley,  William  C.,  227. 
Stanley,  Caleb,  244,  384. 
Smith,  Gideon,  249. 
Simonds,  Col.,  252,  499. 
Story,  Tristram,  260. 
Stevens,  Joel,  315,  319,  418,  435. 
Strong,  Ozem,  316,  317. 
Sufferings  of  the  army  at  Crown  Point  in 

1776,  231. 

Smith,  Samuel,  316. 
Sackett,  Erastus,  358. 
Stamp  Act,  the,  176. 
Smith,  Jonathan,  432. 
Smith,  Rev.  Lemuel,  455. 
Stocks,  punishment  of  the,  139. 
Sessions,  Court  of  General,  139;  judges  of, 

Strong,  Ezra,  378. 

Strong,  Warham,  378. 

Safford,  Col.  Job,  387. 

Seabury,  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  462. 


Stillman,  Rev.  Dr.,  462. 
Stoddard,  Israel,  124,  139,  172,  173,  196  198 
207,  246,  250,  251,  295,  504. 


T. 

Topographical  pursuits,  their  connection 
with  civilization,  prosperity,  and  patriot- 
ism, 2. 

Taconic  Mountains,  4,  5,  8,  9,  10,  96 ;  deriva- 
tion of  names,  16. 
Taghkanak.  — See  Taconic. 
Taconic  Brooks,  28. 
Taconic  Factory,  34. 
Tillotson  and  Collins  (Occola)  mills;  34. 
Town-meetings,  customs  regarding,  135. 
Tories,  183,  207,  245 ;  animosity  against  illus- 
trated, 230;  247,   249,  250;  punished  with 
confiscation  and  banishment,  249,  279;  at 
Bennington  Battle,  299,  301,  310,  338. 
Ticonderoga,  capture  of,  recommended  by 
John  Brown,  213;  various  plans  for,  214 
et  seq. ;  in  1777,  280;  exposed  position  of, 
282;  evacuation  of,  283;  speech  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Allen  at,  284;  flight  from,  285;  excite- 
ment at  Pittsfield  regarding,  287 ;  aid  prof- 
fered in  the  emergency,  288. 
Tenor,  old  and  new,  in  Provincial  currency, 

468;  specimens  of,  489;  disused,  470. 
Trumbull,  J.  Ilammond,  19. 
Thatcher,  Oxenbridge,  66. 
Tawasentha,  20;  treaty  of,  50. 
Talcott,  Josiah,  459. 
Tryon,  Gov.,  19. 
Tomson,  Rev.  Amos,  162. 
Trumbull,  Col.,  283. 
Taylor,  Charles  J.,  opinions  concerning  the 

name  Housatonic,  18. 
Taylor,  Samuel,  86,  93. 
Tyler,  Nathaniel,  110. 
Town  hall,  first,  446. 
Tom  Ball,  mountain,  9. 
Trout,  32. 
Tortoise,  the,  32. 
Talcott,  Major,  47. 
Trees  of  Berkshire,  75. 
Tekoa,  Mount,  11. 
Tower  Hill,  30. 
Traditions,  aboriginal,  46. 
Tyringham,  98, 100. 
Tax-payers,  heaviest,  in  1791,  437. 
Taxes,  320,  436. 
Traets,  political,  335. 
Tender  Act,  the,  397;  described,  401. 


Unkamet  Brook,  13. 
Unkamet,  63. 


INDEX. 


515 


Unkamct  Street,  91,  423. 
Unkamet's  Road,  95. 
Unkamet's  Crossing,  9,  109. 
Uncas,  ambition  of,  50. 

V. 

Van  Schaack,  Henry,  27, 409,  415 ;  sketch  of, 
421,  437,  456,  459.  — See  Dissenters. 

Vermont,  5,  310. 

Village  Central,  35. 

Van  Sickler's  Cotton  Factory,  34. 

Wendell  Square,  94,  426. 

Wendell's  Town,  Poontoosuck  so  called,  92. 

Williams,  Col.  Israel,  99,  106,  107,  113,  123, 
124,  19?,  448,  504. 

Williams,  Thomas,  190. 

White,  Ebenezer,  435. 

Worcester,  190,  193. 

Williams,  Oswald,  435. 

White  Plains,  account  of  battle  at,  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Allen,  252. 

Whittlesey,  E.  B.,  woollen  manufactory,  34. 

Wampaumeorse,  100, 101. 

Wanaubaugas,  101. 

Weller,  Daniel,  437,  441. 

Wiley,  Major,  404. 

Ward,  Josiah  and  Isaac,  436. 

Ward,  Jacob,  358. 

Wethersfield,  86,  87,  89. 

Wolves,  140. 

Williams,  Col.  Ephraim,  108,  124;  com- 
mander of  Fort  Massachusetts,  82,  83. 

Williams,  Dea.  William,  of  Dalton,  504. 

Williams,  John  Chandler,  409,  414,  435,  437, 
440,  441,442;  sketch  of  life,  448,  459,  460, 
464,  501,  503. 

Williams,  Mrs.  Lucretia,  448. 

Williams,  John,  138,  435. 

Williams,  Capt.  Ephraim,  of  Connecticut,  83. 

Williams,  Sarah,  110. 

Williams,  Ephraim,  of  Stockbridge,  123, 124. 

Williams,  Rev.  William,  of  Weston,  123. 

Williams,  Solomon,  123,  124. 

Williams,  William,  Col.,  78,  81,  91,  106,  107, 
115,  122,  130,  134,  139,  153,  163,  174,  176, 
183,  186,  196,  198,  209,  251,  279,  287,  360, 
363;  delegate  to  constitutional  convention 
of  1779,  365,  369,  381;  death  of,  and  monu- 
ment, 439. 

Williams,  Widow  Hannah,  437. 

Williamscs,  the,  16. 

Williams,  William,  jun.,  118. 

Williams,  Elijah,  131. 

Walker,  William,  360,  301,  405,  432. 

Whiting,  John,  281. 

Whiting,  William,  191,  348,  361,  387,  429. 

Western  Railroad,  elevation  of  track  at 
summit  9;  grades,  11;  Capt.  Marryatt  on 
its  conception,  11. 

Wealth,  sources  of,  in  Berkshire,  15. 


Wadhams,  Caleb,  136,  460. 

Wadhams,  John,  163. 

Winterberge,  15, 16. 

Williamstown,  98, 102. 

Watson,  Elkanah,  27. 

Western  land-fever,  60. 

Wawarnpequeenont,  110. 

Wanonpe,  110. 

Wendell,  Jacob,  16,  61;  purchases  Poontoo- 
suck, 66 ;  deeds  to  Philip  Livingston,  68 ; 
objects  to  partition  of  1752,  90;  partition 
made  in  1759, 124;  126, 149. 

Wendell,  Oliver,  62;  sketch  of,  199;  409,  437. 

Wendell,  Catharine,  437. 

Wendell,  John  Mico,  504. 

Westenhook  or  Wcstenhok,  19,  20,  21,  58. 

Washington,  town  of,  23. 

Willard,  Ellas,  86,  93,  311. 

Wampenum,  65. 

Wampenum  Brook  and  Pond,  30. 

Water-power  of  Pittsflcld,  32,  33. 

Water-works  of  Pittsflcld,  36. 

Wahconah  manufacturing  village,  34;  Wah- 
conah  Reservoir,  14. 

Wappingers,  the,  50. 

West  Stockbridge,  60, 131. 

Williams  College,  29, 124. 

Whigs  of  the  Revolution,  169, 172, 175,  183, 
187,  199,  246. 

Warren,  Dr.  Joseph,  175. 

Wright,  Abijah,  460. 

Wright,  Dr.,  of  New  Marlborough,  253. 

Wright,  Joseph,  321. 

Woodbridge,  Joseph,  358. 

Woodbridge,  Timothy,  65, 100, 101, 105, 131, 
139. 

Worthington,  Col.  John,  102, 103,  106,  124. 

Woodbridge,  Abigail,  65. 

White,  Jonathan,  65. 

Wells,  Samuel,  66. 

Wright,  Josiah,  86,  93,  95,  120,  121, 134,  139, 
162,  179,  183,  189,  190,  194,  203,  204,  206, 
209,  244,  287,  295,  356,  362,  382,  384,  456. 

Weller,  Daniel,  189. 

Women,  active  patriotism  of,  206. 

Welch,  Walter,  460. 

Welph,  Joseph,  206. 

Warner,  Col.  Seth,  218. 

Warner,  Nathan,  315. 

Wright,  John,  316. 

Wheeler,  Daniel,  394. 

Wright,  William,  119. 

Ward,  Capt.  Edward,  116. 

Whitehall,  218. 

Wood,  Moses,  468. 

Womanly  spirit,  anecdote  of,  418. 

Weed,  John,  460. 


z. 


Zion,  Mount,  30. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST 


SOLDIERS  NAMED  IN  THE  RECORD  OF  PITTSFIELD   REVOLU- 
TIONARY  SERVICE   (APPENDIX  D). 


A. 

Bagg,  David 

Chesman,  Calvin 

Au^in,  Benjamin 
Allen,  Rufus 
Ames,  Elijah 
Ashley,  David 
Austin,  Ebenezer 
Adams,  Aaron 
Andrews,  Colman 

Belding,  Levi 
Bagg,  Daniel 
Brattle,  William 
Bates,  Daniel 
Barber,  James 
Babbit,  John 
Burt,  Thomas 
Baker,  Solomon 

Cady,  Warren 
Cady,  Phinehas 
Cole,  Phinehas 
Coggswell,  Daniel 
Cotterel,  Nicholas 
Cook,  Timothy 
Concert,  George 
Clark,  Bildad 

Austin,  Shuhael 
Allen,  Joseph 
Allen,  Rev.  Thomas 

Barber,  Matthew 
Bonney,  Samuel 
Bush,  David 

Chapin,  Joseph 
Crofoot,  Stephen 
Colton,  Reuben 

Albro,  Jabez 

Briton,  Jonathan 

Chapel,  Joshua 

Baker,  James 

Cotterel,  Nicholas 

B. 

Bond,  Bartholomew 

Colton,  Joseph 

Berry,  Hugh 
Butler,  Jerry 

Belding,  Oliver 
Baker,  William 
Bond,  William 

Coggswell,  Luther 
Candce,  Timothy 
Collins,  William 

Bill,  Jonathan 
Beckwith,  David 
Belding,  Charles 

Badcock,  Daniel 
Baker,  Lyman 
Blinn,  Joel 

Chappel,  Joshua 
Carter,  Elisha 
Crofoot,  Elijah 

Butler,  George 
Blakesley,  Jonathan 

Brunt  [Burt?],  John 
Branch,  John 

Cadwell,  Timothy 
Chamberlain,  Benjamin 

Brattle,  James 
Burt,  Oliver 
Bateman,  Jonathan 

c. 

Cutond,  Cemyour  [Seymour 

Cutting  or  Cotton  ?] 
Chaucer,  Jabez  ? 

Bliss,  Solomon 

Collins,  William 

Crane,  Elijah 

Barber,  William 

Chapin,  Amaziah 

Chapman,  Ebenezer 

Barber,  Daniel 

Coggswell,  Reuben 

Cook,  \Villiam   * 

Bagg,  Martin 
Branch,  Abel 

Currier,  B. 
Cady,  William 

Cobh,  Eliphalet 

Baker,  Enoch 

Corbin,  John 

D. 

Burt,  Daniel 

Cross,  Samuel 

Brown,  Daniel 

Cotton,  Joseph 

Dago,  Peter 

Booth,  Ambrose 

Chalmers,  Jabez 

Dickinson,  Nathaniel 

Backus,  Lebbeus 

Childs,  Timothy 

Doming,  Benjamin 

Bigelow,  Joshua 

Cady,  John 

Dickinson,  Joel 

Branch,  Asa 

Colson,  Joseph  [Colton  ?] 

Davis,  Nathaniel 

Bond,  William 

Coggswell,  Samuel 

Drake,  Aaron 

Babcock,  Simeon 

Coggswell,  Isaac 

Demint',  John 

Belknap,  Francis 

Cadwell,  Timothy 

DeWoif,  James 

Blauchard,  Jeremiah 

Colt,  James  D. 

Davis,  Thomas 

Bigsbee,  Aaron 

Coggswell,  Calvin 

Dibble,  Truman 

Barber,  Simeon 

Churchill,  John 

Dunham,  Calvin 

Barber,  Jacob 

Coggswell,  Levi 

Delano,  Aaron 

Burt,  Thomas 

Cummington,  John 

Delano,  Amos 

Brown,  John 

Case,  Ezekiel 

Dickinson,  Israel 

Breweter,  Oliver 

Clark,  David 

Demiug,  Noadiah 

Bell,  Henry 

Carlton,  Peleg 

Drake,  William 

Bond,  Beth 

Carlton,  Reuben 

Davis,  Samuel 

Bartlett,  Moses 

Cady,  John 

Dimock,  Shubael 

Baxter,  Richard 

Gaboon,  James 

Done,  Joshua  [Doane] 

Baker,  Timothy 

Coe,  Calvin 

Dart,  Nathan 

Beard,  William 

Cadwell,  Dan 

Dennis,  John 

Barber,  Phinehas 

Chamberlain,  Joseph 

Dimock,  Benjamin 

Bagg,  Phinehas 

Coggswell,  Benjamin 

Dean,  Joel 

516 

INDEX. 


517 


E. 

Harrison,  Joseph 

Loomis,  Daniel 

Egleston,  Azariah 

Hopkins,  Nehemiah 
Hubbard,  Paul 

Luddington,  Lemuel 

Elton,  James 

Hubbard,  Peter 

M. 

Eaeton,  Joseph 
Easton,  Calvin 
Ellison,  James 
Ensign,  Jacob 
Eldridge,  Joseph 
Easton,  Col.  James 
Ensign,  Elijah 
Easton,  James,  jun. 
Elton,  Joseph 

Hutchinson,  Paul 
Hurlbert,  Zaccheus 
Hewett,  Zadoc 
Hatch,  William 
Hardy,  Joseph 
Hyde,  Charles 
Hall,  Warren 
Harrison,  Asahel 
Hinman,  Adoniram 

Mitchell,  Hugh 
Miller,  Aaron 
Miller,  Thomas 
Miller,  Timothy 
Merrill,  Daniel 
Moseley,  Josiah 
Milbourn,  Reuben 
Millard,  Abiather 
Merrill,  Hosea 

Hall,  Joseph 

Messenger,  Peter 

• 

Hill,  

Francis,  John 

Hewley,  Jonathan 

Marvin,  Enoch 

Foot,  Isaac,  or  Israel 

Hubbard,  Jose 

Miller,  Oliver 

Francis,  William 

Hubbard,  Daniel 

Morse,  I>aac 

Ford,  John 
Foot,  Philip 
Fairfleld,  John 
Fuller,  Jonathan 

Hale,  Nathaniel 
Haskins,  Enoch 
Hazzard,  Jeffrey 
Hinman,  Abijah 

Morey,  Jonathan 
Merry,  Ebenezer 
Macomber,  Seth 
Miller,  William 

Francis,  Robert 
Fairfield,  Joseph 

Hale,  Ashbel 
Hamblin,  Ichabod 

Mace,  Warren 
Merry,  John 

Fairfield,  Nathaniel 

Moore,  Joseph 

Frost,  Abraham 

I. 

Martin,  Solomon 

Foot,  Aaron 

Miller,  Lev! 

Fowler,  Stephen 
Ford,  William 

Isaacs,  Isaac 
Ingersoll,  David 
Ingraham,  Nathan 

Messenger,  Gideon 
Merrill,  Ezekiel 
Milliken,  William 

G. 

Miller,  Jeremiah 

Gilbert,  Phinehas 
Gardner,  John 
Goodrich,  Caleb 
Goodrich,  Moses 
Goodree,  Samuel 
Goodrich,  Elizur,  or  Eleazur 
Goodrich,  Gideon,  jun. 

. 

Janes,  William 
Jones,  Daniel 
Jones,  Herman 
Johnson,  David 
Jenks,  Thomas 
Jones,  

McKnight.  Thomas 
Moore.  John 
McKnight,  William 
Merrill,  Ezekiel 
Merry,  Samuel 
McGee,  Patrick 
Moore,  Anoblos 

Gleason,  Jacob 

Janes,  Elijah 

Gates?  Joshua 

Jacobs,  Jonah 

N. 

Goodrich,  Charles 

Judd,  Benjamin 

Noble,  James 

Gunn,  Gideon 

Judd,  Uriah 

Narramore,  Joshua 

Gunn,  Reuben 
Goff,  Jacob 

Jacobs,  Josiah 
Jordon,  John 

Noble.  Aaron 
Noble,  Moses 

Guilford,  Paul 

Noble,  John 

Goodrich,  Josiah 

K. 

Noble,  Mark 

Goodrich,  Jedidiah 

Newel,  Seth 

Goodrich,  Zcnas 
Gallop,  Benjamin 
Gates,  Thomas 
Gaston,  David 

Keller,  Thomas 
Kipsr,  John 
Killiard,  William 
Kellosrs.  Thomas 

Netting,  James 
Noble,  Jonathan 
Northrup,  Abram 
Noble,  Luke 

Gorcester,  Xathaniel 

Kcilcr,  Ezra 

North,  John 

Goodrich,  Xathaniel 
Gleason,  Benoni 
(i  raves.  Jonathan 

Keller,  Ebenezer 
Keiler,  Benjamin 
Keiler,  Eleazer 

Noble,  David 
Narramore,  Asa 

Goodrich,  Gilbert 

Klngsbnry,  Martin 

0. 

Gofl',  David  [Luff] 

KeJlcr,  Daniel 

Oshorn,  Joel 

H. 

L- 

Osborne.  Daniel 

Osborn,  Richard 

nostettcr.  William 

Little.  Willi.im 

Oalds,  Daniel 

Heiiman,  Enos 

Lampliier,  Elijah 

Oliver,  Anthony 

Hobby.  Jonathan 

Lamson.  William 

Hereford,  John 

Lothrop,  Solomon 

p. 

Hudson.  Thomas 

Ludd,  Joel 

Hill,  AM 

Lewis,  John 

Pynchon,  Benjamin 

Hiiiman,  William 

Little.  Woodbridge 

Parmele.  Rufus 

llubbard,  James 

Lee,  Jonathan 

Plumer,  Francis 

Harrison,  Joseph 

Lewis,  James 

Phelps,  Lemuel 

Hutchinson,  Ebenezer 

Lattimcr.  Jonathan 

Price,  Joseph 

Ilickocks,  Aaron 

Loomis,  Jonathan 

Phelps,  John 

Hill,  Fred 

Lusk.  Si  lah 

Poppoomick,  Ebenezer 

Hiscock,  Ichabod 

LamliTs.  Asahel 

Phillips.  Nathan 

Hall,  Ambrose  [Hull] 

Lanir.  William 

Phelps,  Stephen 

Hall.  Prince 

Lambden.  Abram 

Phelps,  Israel 

Hathaway,  Abner 
liewett,  Jonathan 

Lewis,  Thomas 
Lewis,  Philip 

Phelps,  Joseph 
Phelps,  Elnathan 

518 


INDEX. 


Phelps,  William 
Peck,  Israel 
Peck,  James 
Pitrker,  Timothy 
Prindle,  Samuel 
Parker,  Linus 
Porter,  Nathaniel 
Parks,  Thomas 
Parks,  Abijah 
Phelps,  Ebenezer 
Pearson  [Pierson],  Abel 
Parks,  Nathan 
Porter,  Joseph 
Phelps,  Benjamin 

B. 

Root,  Oliver 
Root,  Eli 
Robbins,  Jason 
Robbins,  Joshua 
Root,  Ezekiel 
Rathbun,  Valentine 
Rathbun,  Reuben 
Remington,  John 
Rathbun,  James 
Root,  Amos,  jun. 
Root,  Roswald 
Root,  John 
Root,  Azariah 
Rust,  Daniel 
Rowley,  Lemuel 
Reed,  Isaac 
Robbins,  Nathaniel 
Rathbun,  Jacob 
Rathbun,  Daniel 
Root,  Amos 
Raymont,  William 
Rossiter,  Richard 
Reed,  Joseph 
Reed,  Isaac 
Reed,  James 
Root,  Elijah 
Root,  Zenas 

S. 

Sprague,  Calvin 
Sharp,  Joseph 
Stearns,  Ezra 
Sackett,  Solomon 
Smith,  Henry 
Sherman,  Palmer 
Smith,  Amos 
Stephens,  Benjamin 
Stuart,  Charles 
Stiles,  Moses 
Spear,  James 
Stoddard,  Ebenezer 
Stevens,  Joel 
Stoddard,  Israel 
Stiles,  Ephraim 
Stiles,  Aaron 


Stiles,  Asahel 

Tuhel,  Joseph 

Sullard,  Peter 

Taggard,  Nathan 

Sackett,  Erastus 

Titus,  Negro 

Strong,  King 

Stanley,  Caleb 

Stearns,  John 

• 

Stearns,  Timothy 

Vernam,  Willard 

Stone,  Ethan 

S. 

W. 

Spear,  James 

Wright,  Titus 

Spencer,  Samuel 

Welch,  Amos 

Stoddard,  Jonathan 

Walker,  Walter 

Strong,  Warham 

Wheelwright,  John 

Stanley,  Frederic 

Weller,  William 

Smith  Ezekiel 

West,  Stephen 

Strong,  Ozem 

Woodward,  Rufus 

Stiles,  Silas 

Williams,  Ebenezer 

Stanley,  Wm.  C. 

Wheedon,  Ebenezer 

Smith,  Samuel 

Wright,  Jehiel 

Somers,  Ezekiel 

Wheaton,  Samuel 

Stanley,  Caleb 

Wright,  John 

Strong,  John 

Wright,  Jacob 

Stiles,  Zebediah 

Ward,  Josiah 

Stiles,  Asahel 

Warren,  Jason 

Stoddard,  Joseph 

Willard,  Matthew 

Scott,  William 

Willard,  Elias 

Scott,  Thomas 

Waterman,  Adoniram 

Sears,  David 

Wright,  Ozias 

Spofford,  Andrew 

Wait,  John 

Stiles,  Josiah 

Williamson.  Othniel 

Silver,  Asa 

Wiley,  David 

Simonds,  Joshua 

Willard,  Abiathcr 

Snow,  Levi 

Willard,  Samuel 

Stearns,  Jehiel 

Woodward,  Asa 

Straton,  Samuel 

Wright,  Jonathan 

Stiles,  Moses 

Warreu,  Jason 

Somers,  Ezekiel 

Woodruff,  Arnos 

Stoddard,  Philon 

Wollison,  Shubael 

Wolcott,  Hezekiah 

T. 

Walker,  Joel 

Wadhams,  Caleb 

Tupping,  Paul  [Tupper] 

Wright,  Edmund 

Tubs,  Dan 

Welch,  Joseph 

Tracy,  Nehemiah 

Wright,  Matthew 

Tupper,  Denam 
Talcott,  Josiah 

Williams,  William 
Warner,  David 

Taylor,  David 

Wright,  Josiah 

Tomblin,  Moses 

Wright,  Peter 

Taylor,  Henry 

Wood,  John 

Treet,  John 

Williams,  Oswald 

Taylor,  James 

Wright,  Ebenezer 

Taylor,  Thomas 

Welch,  Walter 

Thorpe,  John 

Welch,  Uriah 

Tupper,  John 

Ward,  Jacob 

Tupper,  Uriel 

White,  John 

Tupper,  Thomas 

Weller,  Daniel 

Tupper  Darius 

Weston,  Jonathan 

Tupper,  Simeon 

Wells,  David 

Tyler,  Henry 

Welch,  Nathaniel 

Taylor,  Jonathan 
Tobie,  Nathaniel 

Welch,  Roger 
Wright,  Josiah,  jun. 

Must  not  be  Loaned 

<m 


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